Strategic Elements advances moisture-powered battery technology
Both development goals are expected to be achieved before the end of the September quarter.
Pooled development fund Strategic Elements (ASX: SOR) focused much of its attention during the June quarter on development work needed to produce electrical currents from battery technology.
In May, the company announced its investee vehicle Australian Advanced Materials aimed to print a prototype battery pack producing over one milliamp of electrical current solely from moisture (humidity).
A month later, the project had achieved a critical development milestone with the moisture-powered battery successfully powering an internet of things (IoT) device equipped with temperature and humidity sensors and onboard Bluetooth capability.
Sense of anticipation
Strategic managing director Charles Murphy said the company feels a “growing sense of anticipation” as Australian Advanced Materials moves closer to commercialising the technology.
“The opportunity is for an environment-friendly, renewable and cost-effective method of harvesting energy from moisture in the air,” he said.
“Small electronics do not need a lot of power and we naturally have an initial focus on low power applications [however] if there are development breakthroughs that open up the potential for larger power applications or small-scale energy, we will assess them [as well].”
Autonomous vehicle developments
During the quarter, Strategic’s other investee company Stealth Technologies transitioned its AxV Platform (autonomous mobile robotics) into the defence sector and announced it would design and deliver an autonomous drone-carrying vehicle which could automate detection and sensing of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear agents.
Stealth is collaborating with Defence Science Technology Group (an Australian Department of Defence agency) and the University of Western Australia to build the vehicle and conduct a live demonstration to the Australian Army.
Defence Science Technology Group and the Western Australian Defence Science Centre have committed to providing $500,000 in cash and in kind resources to the project.
“Stealth has also been collaborating with [global Fortune 100 software industrial company] Honeywell to build an autonomous security vehicle (ASV) for the correctional sector,” Mr Murphy said.
“The companies are actively seeking to finalise a new agreement to commercialise the ASV as soon as possible.”
Financial results
Strategic ended the June quarter with $7.9 million cash at hand after a net expenditure across the group of $61,000 comprising project development and product manufacturing costs, administration costs, and income received under the federal government’s research and development tax incentive scheme.
Strategic Elements incurred its own expenditure of $395,000, comprising costs relating to the operation of a listed entity, a pooled development fund and management of its investee companies.
June expenditure across the group was $1 million, intentionally matched to and offset by $942,000 in income received from the incentive scheme.
It also included some large purchases related to infrastructure and equipment at Stealth Technologies’ development and manufacturing facility.
Australian Advanced Materials incurred $210,000 in direct costs which were directed toward funding the University of New South Wales research team in developing its memory and battery technology.
Stealth Technologies invested further in the development of its AxV platform technologies and incurred net expenditure of $362,000 directed toward research and development, staff and operating costs.