Origins of Artemis
Where we’ve come from:
Ken Spruce and Darren Foster founded Whitsunday Moorings and Marine Constructions Pty Ltd in July 2007, focusing on the servicing and construction of private and commercial moorings, as well as small vessel salvage.
In 2010, Whitsunday Moorings and Marine Constructions were approached by a major Port to undertake investigations into irregular findings from structural reports. The investigation carried out by Spruce and Foster found critical structural problems and potential structural failure, which lead to a 20 day berth shutdown and a revenue loss of up to 20 million dollars. The problem was in an area that could have lead to critical structural failure.
They were contacted by a neighboring terminal later in 2012, to review a structural report carried out by a dive company. Their investigation identified major defects that had been overlooked by Queensland’s largest and most experienced marine group.
Following this, Spruce and Foster began to ponder how they could improve the current methodology and deliver a complete, reliable data source that asset owners could trust. One that could improve the safety of a workplace and potentially save clients millions of dollars.
In 2014, Whitsunday Moorings and Marine Construction began extensive research and development on the Automated Structural Inspection System (ASIS), designed to inspect port/wharf pilings and platforms using non-destructive testing techniques. Artemis Intelligent Robotic Systems (IRS) was founded.
The ASIS prototype eliminates ‘Educated Guesses’ and delivers safe, accurate and detailed infrastructure assessments to marine and coastal asset owners.
Where we’re headed:
Artemis IRS was recently awarded the ‘Program Choice Award’ by the ‘Igniting METS Accelerator Program’ in 2017, for the latest wave of innovation within the mining sector.
The Igniting METS Accelerator Program is supported by the Australian Federal Government and QLD Government. It proves financial support and mentoring from top industry leaders and entrepreneurs around Australia.
The IRIS platform is the future stage of development and enhancement of ASIS, which will take automation to the next level, integrating remedial repair action in to the robot.
The IRIS platform will significantly decrease the required manpower and expenditure for the inspection, repairs and maintenance of offshore bulk materials handling ports and oil & gas platforms.
Our leadership team
Darren Foster
Director & Chief Executive Officer
Founder and owner of Artemis Robotics with 20 years experience in large asset construction, management, engineering and integrity testing in marine and subsea space. Established commercial dive business (WMMC) with ISO9001.
Andrew Batty
Commercial Lead
Experienced technology CEO and Director managing private and ASX listed startups. Executed supply, manufacturing and distribution deals with large multinationals and is well practised at developing and commercialising novel technology for international markets.
Tony Wood
Technical Lead
Over 30 years experience in the Infrastructure and Resources industries in leadership roles at Wimpey Off-shore and Construction Management along with serving as the Worldwide Chemicals and Petroleum Executive at IBM and Cisco Systems. Tony has written numerous technical and business-related articles, specifically focusing on leveraging technology for business benefit. Tony has an MBA from The London Business School.
Michael Mason
Business Development Lead
Seasoned business development professional including customer channels, partner channels and government affairs. Michael has spent the past 20 years primarily in the Resources industry along with providing advisory services for banks, government and large construction companies on infrastructure related programmes. Michael’s expertise and key relationships extend throughout Australia, Asia and North America.
Daniel Grome
Engineering Lead
Experienced robotics engineer and systems designer who has managed the development for the first the Artemis robot. Experienced in design, testing and industrial robotics production. Daniel graduated from the University of Portland with a Mechanical Engineering degree.
John Boardman
Supply Chain Lead
Expert in sourcing strategies, procurement (including transitioning to a low-cost country for both critical and non-critical components), expediting and logistics. John has worked extensively in China to support Oil & Gas projects in Australia on fabrication and manufacturing key modules as well as in Africa on Asset Management projects for one of the world’s largest IOCs.