Kiwi GPS helps de-mining

Wellington hi-tech manufacturers Surveylab and 4RF say major overseas customers are snapping up their latest products.

Surveylab has scored a deal to supply an international humanitarian organisation with its GPS units, while large European utilities will trial 4RF's new microwave radio for monitoring utility networks. Surveylab makes the Ike – a handheld unit with a GPS transceiver, laser finder, digital camera, inclinometer and compass that lets users photograph and record the location of objects and buildings from a distance.

Chief executive Leon Toorenburg says it has sold more than 50 of its Ike1000 units – which cost up to about US$6000 (NZ$8300) each – to an "international non-governmental organisation" involved in humanitarian de-mining.

The customer – which does not wish to be named – will use the units in eight countries around the world, including Afghanistan and Sudan, to mark the locations of land mines, he says.

Surveylab is raising capital and seeking local investors to help it market the Ike1000 – a "more rugged and accurate" version of earlier Ikes – to global markets, Mr Toorenburg says. "We've got more than $1.2 million of orders on the books and we're finding growth of the company has been phenomenal."

Surveylab has a contract with United States multibillion-dollar engineering company SAIC, which manufactures and sells a special version of the Ike to the US army, and is now working with the firm to develop a restricted military version of the Ike1000.

It has also signed a deal with US ultra-rugged computer manufacturer Juniper Systems, which uses the Ike's geospatial technology in its own handheld GPS devices.

"They've got international reach. This upscales our reseller network dramatically."

About 80 per cent of the company's business is in the US.

Surveylab has 16 staff; 13 in Wellington and three in Virginia. Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast and partner Rex Nicholls own about 23 per cent of Surveylab. Mr Nicholls is also a director. Venture capital firm No 8 Ventures owns about 45 per cent.

4RF chief executive Ian Troughton says the firm has spent about $6 million developing its new Aprisa SR radio for utility networks, including a $2m grant from the Foundation for Research and Science and Technology. The radio can communicate with sensors in oil pipelines and valves in water networks, allowing utilities to remotely monitor and control their networks, he says.

Its launch coincides with worldwide buzz around smart grids – networks that can receive, relay and act on information.

"It's about bringing utility networks into the 21st century. A key part of what is required is communication because you can't run a network more efficiently until you know what's going on. You need to be able to monitor as much of the network as possible."

The radio can encrypt, authenticate and filter traffic to ensure the security of critical infrastructure.

4RF's "blue chip" utility customers in Spain, France and other European countries will trial the radio in the first half of next year. The company has worked closely with them in developing the product.

The firm, which has about 75 staff, posted a $2.9m profit for the year ending March. Most of New Zealand's utilities are customers.