Australia's first 'Coronabot', designed to disinfect surfaces so people don't have to, has been created by a team of specialists in Albury.
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FireTail Robotics chief executive Jack Hurley was contacted earlier this week about creating a robot that could be operated remotely to clean surfaces.
"The Coronabot was a product to answer, 'How do we disinfect on a large scale places like schools and factories, and put people out of harm's way?' he said.
"It was a 72-hour sprint to create this, and we partnered up with agricultural supplier Silvan, based in Melbourne, for the tanks to go with our prototype.
"It's the size of a large dog, can carry 100 litres of disinfectant, and has a range of attachments from spot-spraying to boom-type spraying."
The team has perfected the autonomous robot so that it can clear small obstacles, link up to cameras 10 kilometres away, and be operated anywhere in the world with 4G connection.
The client can't be named, but the team at FireTail is confident the invention will go down well and potentially be mass-produced.
"This is the first one, and then we're looking at making another 50," Mr Hurley said.
"We did see some activity in China with bots doing this type of work.
"But because no one has built anything like this in Australia, we rely on our client to give us constant feedback."
Mr Hurley launched the FireTail unmanned aerial system in 2016 and the business has since grown in leaps and bounds, while still conducting research and development at their Albury base.
"We're now part of a larger business; there's around 35 people in our company between Sydney and Melbourne," he said.
"Building products to react to different environmental pressures is definitely part of our core business.
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"Our other types of products are environmental marine robots that work on the Great Barrier Reef, and remote-controlled robotic traffic cones."
And Mr Hurley is open to naming suggestions for their latest invention.
"It's called the Coronabot, but we feel like the Elvis helicopter got such a good rap, we're open to names," he said.
