Federal grant win for Computronics
Electronics firm Computronics has been awarded a $945,000 Federal Government research and development Start Grant.
The funds will be used by the Technology Park-based operation to commercialise a continuous crop quality measuring system to complement its range of precision agriculture monitors and controllers.
The crop quality system, currently being trialled in the viticulture industry, will assist in managing the quality control of the grape harvest and will be incorporated into Computronics’ Farmscan technology.
Farmscan is an integrated system of monitoring, control and analysis tools including GPS guidance and auto-steering technology that is designed to help farmers optimise their farming techniques.
Computronics chief executive Ole Hansen said the crop quality measuring system would assist in the business of agriculture, particularly in the wine industry, as viticulturists would be better able to determine the quality of the grapes prior to the crush.
“If you could determine the quality of the crops, you could significantly improve the situation,” Mr Hansen said.
The system would also have applications in other farming industries, including grain and fruit.
“With the sensor technology that this [system] will bring about, we will be able to go to a whole range of crops assessing the quality of grains, fruit etcetera,” Mr Hansen said.
He said CSIRO and Southcorp were advocates of the project and Vasse Felix also had pledged its support.
Sydney University has also been involved in the project, Mr Hansen said, with Computronics in the process of signing a memorandum of understanding with the university.
The news of the R&D Start Grant follows a tough year for the company, which performed below expectations.
Computronics reported a net profit of $398,326, well short of the projected $1.8 million for financial year 2002-2003.
The company’s share price has also suffered. Upon listing in January 2003 at 35 cents and following a 12-month low of 15 cents, Computronics’ shares are currently around 23 cents.
However, Mr Hansen remains bullish about the company’s prospects, blaming the recent under-performance on the drought, which affected the agricultural division, and concerns about Sars and terrorism, and a downturn in construction affecting its other divisions through decreased demand for its products.
Mr Hansen said the company was now where it should have been 12 months ago.
“We still grew the company last year, but only by six million,” he said. “I would imagine next year we will be budgeting a modest growth.
“We are in an excellent shape at the moment.” .
