Kirrawee-based robotics company Strategic Engineering owner and director, Richard Aplin, has been invited to join the board of directors of the Rapid Prototyping Development and Evaluation program (RPDE).

The program is co-ordinated by the Australian Defence Force to advise on the latest developments in robotics and what is described as network-centric warfare.

The prototyping is a collaboration between the federal government, research organisations and industry to research new technologies aimed at improving Australian capabilities.

Strategic Engineering was selected because of its work in developing autonomous ground vehicles.

The company being one of ten finalists worldwide in the Multi Autonomous Ground-robotic International Challenge (MAGIC 2010).

Mr Aplin developed a team of six autonomous ground vehicles that go into a war zone ahead of ground troops.

"They use laser scanners and cameras to generate 3-D maps of the terrain to identify improvised explosive devices, civilians and enemy combatants," Mr Aplin said.

Mr Aplin, 30, has a degree in mechatronic engineering from Sydney University. He started Strategic Engineering six years ago to build robotics, initially for the manufacturing and mining.

The company's robots are used for a range of tasks, from manipulating packing boxes to making cars. He relishes the challenges of his new role.

"We will be working closely with the heads of defence," he said. "I plan to put forward some ideas to the RPDE board to promote innovation and efficiencies.

"We are looking at a program to send faster information about explosive devices found in war zones back to base.

"At the moment they can't do that in real time. It can take several minutes to transmit the data before they can respond.

"This means the troops on the ground are exposed to danger for a longer period. "Ultimately, it is about making them safer by allowing to do their job faster and more efficiently."