WHEN Paul Sewell was developing his mobile rubbish bin cleaner he inadvertently invented a world-first robotic solution. The machinery is believed to involve nine world firsts and five world-wide patents.

His technology could be used in aviation, medical work, bomb disposal, road marking and a host of other applications where conventional robots are unsuitable.

It\'s like a thinking robot that has far more capabilities than normal mechanical robots designed for repetitive factory work.

It is the key part of a $4 million prototype truck being trialled by Mr Sewell\'s FreshBins company which hopes to secure contracts around Australia and the world.

Inside the truck intricate computer equipment drives the robotic arm and a device that makes ozone to clean rubbish bins with minimal water and no chemicals. There are 385,000 components in the rear of the truck.

The investment has potential to trigger a new multi-million-dollar manufacturing industry employing more than 1000 people in Warrnambool.

Mr Sewell has teamed with Warrnambool businessman David Nelson as co-director and hired former police leader John Robinson as chief executive to take the company to the next stage.

\"I always knew it would be a success, but the speed it has been picked up by interested users has been the biggest surprise,\" Mr Sewell told The Standard.

The trio has been busy meeting state and federal government delegates and local councils plus industry managers to sharpen interest in taking the concept to the next level.

A metropolitan council will trial the machinery next month in having bin-cleaning as a regular household service available to ratepayers.

One of the world\'s biggest truck manufacturers is keen to back the concept and an Asian government has also expressed interest.

The FreshBins trio is keen to keep the manufacturing base in Australia, preferable in Warrnambool rather than seeing it lost to overseas investors as has happened with several other major Aussie inventions.

\"With the dairy industry here Warrnambool has brilliant tradesmen and the right-size community,\" Mr Sewell said.

\"This would add another social and economic facet to Warrnambool\'s economy with potential for more than 1000 jobs in direct construction plus another 5000 spin-off jobs. \"We used 36 local businesses in developing the prototype truck, so the capability is there.\"

Less than four years ago Mr Sewell was a NSW coal miner with a plumbing background who came to Warrnambool for Christmas holidays with his wife and two sons.

\"I fell in love with the place and decided I needed a sea change after growing sick of shift work,\" the 38-year-old said.

\"When I was throwing the rubbish out one day I noticed the bins were smelly and remembered a guy in Bathurst who used to go around houses cleaning bins with a pressure cleaner.

\"I thought there must be a smarter way of doing it so I developed a special truck to do the job.

\"But within two months of climbing in and out of the cabin in rain and heat we knew there must be another way to clean bins quicker and better.\"

He set about researching the issue and realised the answer lay in robotics.

“We approached five companies dealing in robotics and four laughed and said what we wanted couldn\'t be done.”

\"But one company persisted and achieved what we wanted - a thinking robot.\"

What they achieved was a robotic arm carrying rubber suction grips and sensors attached to a computer with a touch-screen control monitor in the driver\'s cabin.

When the truck pulls up near a rubbish bin the arm swings out, sensors detect the shape and position of the bin then relay the information to the computer mapping program within one-200ths of a second.

The robotic arm picks up the bin and swings it into the rear of the truck where it is cleaned with ozone in a miserly 65 millimeters of water before being placed back on the curb all within 17 seconds.

If the sensors detect movement near the bin, such as a child or an animal, the arm automatically goes into alert mode.

The company claims the ozone cleaning technique if used nationally could potentially save the annual equivalent of drinking water used by 210,000 homes, compared with traditional bin-washing methods which pollute the environment.

Even the sludge from dirty bins is collected and will be sent to another company to make synthetic bowling greens.

Mr Nelson said the aim was to make the whole process as environmentally friendly as possible including the truck\'s diesel engines which would be converted to compressed natural gas.

PETER COLLINS

Standard - Fairfax