Tiny Mobile Robots: Line marking made easy
Page last updated:14 March 2025
The Challenge
High accuracy positioning is crucial to many major industries, driving innovation, research, and design. Through automation and monitoring, it enhances safety and improves efficiency.
Mobile field robotics is a rapidly growing industry with applications across construction, agriculture, mining, and defence. These applications require centimetre accurate positioning, with quick initialisation times (the time it takes for the robot to obtain an accurate position), such that the robots can navigate complex environments in real-time. Standalone GNSS, which provides 5 – 10 metre accuracy is not sufficient for these applications.
The Solution
Tiny Mobile Robot in action.
The NPIC (National Positioning Infrastructure Capability) addresses these challenges by offering data streams from a nationally consistent network of continuously operating reference stations, that can be used to generate and transmit corrections to the GNSS signals. The data streams from these reliable and stable reference stations, are available for free for use by Australian businesses, government, and the community.
To demonstrate the value and utility of these free and open data streams, Geoscience Australia collaborated with Aptella and Tiny Mobile Robots. Tiny Mobile Robots, a Danish robotics company with a presence in Australia, supplies robots that can mark out sports fields with centimetre-level accuracy. Using the data streams from nearby NPIC reference stations, Aptella, an Australian automation and positioning company, were able to provide a high accuracy correction service, positioning the robot and allowing it to mark out a soccer field.
This collaboration highlights how industry can engage with these solutions to innovate and adopt more technologically informed practices.
Benefits of Aptella and Tiny Mobile Robots using NPIC data streams:
- Nationwide access to stable and reliable reference stations
- Commercial service providers able to offer increased and consistent positioning benefits to users
- Users across different industries have access to flexible and cost-effective positioning services without having to pay for their own networks
The Impact
NPIC is a part of the Australian Government’s world-class satellite positioning capability and is an openly available service that is increasingly benefiting industry, government, and academia across Australia by providing added value through centimetre-accurate positioning through a national datum.
As demonstrated by Tiny Mobile Robots, NPIC serves as a platform for industry innovation and adaptation using highly accurate positioning. NPIC also supports research and innovation through its free and open data, products, and services, broadening its impact as more Australians utilise positioning to build the future.
This kind of innovation through Geoscience Australia is critical for the robotics industry. Satellites get us to a certain distance, but without this infrastructure, we can't achieve 1cm accuracy. It's essential for operating a business to have access to these networks.
Rob Mantel, Senior Territory Manager, TMR - Oceania