New Advanced Navigation head of product management, Maximilian Doemling, is expected to play a key role in the Australian technology company’s bid to push deeper into the mining, agriculture, aerospace and defence markets.
Doemling comes to Advanced Navigation following recent involvement in Toyota’s Woven advanced mobility project and after being a senior member of the product development team working on BMW’s automated driving programs. He has spent more than 15 years leading complex technical projects in the automotive sectors in East Asia and Germany.
Advanced Navigation CEO Chris Shaw said Doemling’s appointment came at a pivotal time for the 13-year-old company, which raised A$108 million in a November 2022 funding round which reportedly gave it a $1 billion valuation. The firm has subsequently grown to about 200 employees and forged significant supply alliances with companies such as Liebherr and Fortescue Metals Group.
“[Doemling’s] strategic direction and extensive experience in shaping product ecosystems is the exact skillset required to expand our portfolio and meet the demands of the growing autonomous systems market,” Shaw said. “We’re excited to have him on board as we continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in navigation and robotics.”
The company’s chief revenue officer Christopher McNamara told InvestMETS.com Advanced Navigation had partnered with “a number of the world’s largest suppliers to the mining industry” and was seeing a tremendous amount of growth. “We’re anticipating this trend will continue as more and more mining companies seek to unlock the benefits of autonomy for reducing cost, increasing productivity and improving safety in the mining environment,” he said.
“We have been fortunate to partner with some of Australia’s most progressive mining companies which has helped us demonstrate the capability to serve customers in this segment globally. For us, the key focus has been on building great products which specifically address customer needs.”
McNamara said an example of this was Advanced Navigation’s Certus Mini D inertial navigation system. Weighing 55 grams and featuring dual-antenna GNSS heading, it filled a “critical gap in the market for a dual-antenna INS in a lightweight and compact size”.
“It can easily be integrated into legacy systems and new builds, ensuring seamless upgrades, reducing installation time and minimising costs,” McNamara said. “Since launching the Certus Mini D we’ve received really positive feedback from mining customers who have integrated it into their technology platforms.
“In recent years there has been a trend towards the adoption of smaller, lighter systems that optimise the use of space in their vehicle’s junction box. Further, with the proliferation of mining drones used for tasks such as surveying and mapping, having a reliable navigation unit that doesn’t weigh down the system is critical.”
Advanced Navigation says its Boreas digital fibre optic gyroscope technology, integrating sensor technologies such as inertial, photonic, neuromorphic, LiDAR, laser velocity and vision, enabled autonomous systems to navigate complex and dynamic environments even in the absence of GPS. Driven by the growing functionality of autonomous systems the sensor fusion market was projected to be grow to US$42.5 billion by 2033, it said.
Doemling said as autonomy evolved demand for precision, resilience and intelligence in navigation systems was accelerating. “Inertial and photonic sensors are foundational technologies for autonomous systems. Developing deep technology demands relentless innovation at the cutting edge, where breakthroughs must outpace complexity to stay ahead of the curve.
“The future belongs to those who can push the limits of what’s possible – and we’re just getting started,” he said.
