AIIA iAwards 2026 • National Merit Recipient • Student

The First Digital Nervous System for Coastal ESG Management

Making the invisible operational cost visible. Making the unclassified waste measurable. Making coastal sustainability scalable with AI-powered autonomous cleaning.

Explore the Platform See the Award

The Systemic Failure of Coastal Operations

Current baseline operations rely on blind, ad-hoc manual labor, leading to a crisis of efficiency, data, and ecology.

Operational Pain

  • Highly manual, unclassified labor.
  • Daily operational costs averaging $3,000 AUD per beach (5 workers, 10 hours).

Environmental Pain

  • 2,719 tonnes of garbage accumulated in AU alone (2022).
  • Zero at-source waste sorting; recyclables are lost to landfills.

Tourism & Health Pain

  • >80% of citizens unwilling to visit polluted beaches.
  • Accumulated waste causes localized health hazards.
The Innovation

The Autonomous 4S Flywheel

Moving from blind manual sweeping to proactive, data-driven platform operations.

Smart Driving

SLAM-based autonomous navigation and obstacle avoidance (LiDAR/Radar) for complex coastal terrains.

Smart Cleaning

Deep learning object detection actively hunting waste anomalies on the sand, trained on >100,000 datasets.

Smart Recycling

Real-time mechanical sorting at the point of collection, diverting high-value recyclables from landfills.

Smart Analysing

Feeding operational telemetry back into the Microsoft Azure IoT Cloud to map hotspots and optimize future routes.

See It In Action

EZBeachBot Demo

Watch the AI inspection system detect, identify, and collect trash along the beach.

Edge-to-Cloud Architecture

The 3-Step Field Workflow powered by AI Vision Pipeline

01. Detect Litter

Computer vision (Azure AI) identifies and classifies waste items against natural sand and rocks.

02. Pick & Sort

The onboard mechanical arm collects the waste and physically routes it into segregated bins.

03. Analyse & Report

Edge devices transmit telemetry to the cloud, building localized cleanliness data and operational proof-of-service.

Measurable Outcomes

Early Operational Evidence

Data derived from our successful Deep Water Bay Beach pilot deployment.

50%

Less Time

Cleaning time reduced from 10 hours (manual) to just 5 hours with EZBotBeach.

60%

Less Manpower

Reduced crew requirement from 5 laborers to 1 operator managing the autonomous unit.

55%

Lower Daily Cost

Operational expenses dropped from $1,500 to $825 AUD per day (inclusive of hardware amortization).

Driving Broad ESG Outcomes

Zero-Emission Ops

Units powered by onboard solar/wind components, reducing grid reliance.

Auditable Data

Providing municipalities irrefutable, data-backed proof of cleanup efforts.

Public Health

Systematically removing biohazards, restoring >80% visitor confidence.

Recognition

National Merit Recipient at the AIIA iAwards 2026

EZBeachbot has been recognised at the iAwards, Australia's national technology innovation program running since 1993 — taking National Merit in the Student category for Torrens University Australia.

AIIA iAwards 2026 National Merit badge, Student category
National Merit Recipient

“Innovation That Matters”

The iAwards celebrate Australian technology that delivers genuine impact. EZBeachbot was recognised for turning coastal cleaning from blind, manual labour into a measurable, autonomous and data-driven service — validating both the engineering behind the platform and the sustainability outcomes it produces.

Award
National Merit
Category
Student
Year
2026

An AIIA program • Category sponsor Deloitte • Ceremony partner NSW Department of Customer Service

Ka Ho Lui and Aayush Dawadi holding the EzBeachbot National Merit Recipient certificate at the AIIA iAwards 2026 ceremony

Accepting the award

The EZBeachbot founding team at the AIIA iAwards 2026 national ceremony.

iAwards 2026 certificate: National Merit Recipient awarded to EzBeachbot, Torrens University, Student category

The certificate

National Merit Recipient, awarded to EzBeachbot — Torrens University, Student.

Independently assessed

Judged by an industry panel against national innovation criteria, not self-reported metrics.

National standing

Merit at the national level places EZBeachbot among Australia's recognised emerging technology projects for 2026.

Partner-ready

Third-party validation that de-risks pilot conversations with councils, resorts and coastal operators.

Build on this momentum

The Drivers Behind the Platform

A software-engineering-led founding team focused on execution, AI integration, and commercial scalability.

KL

Ka Ho Lui

Co-Founder & Software Engineer

  • • Torrens University Australia
  • • Major in Software Engineering
  • • Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador
AD

Aayush Dawadi

Project Engineer

  • • High-level technical & strategic oversight
  • • Product direction & commercial partnerships

National Award Recognition

National Merit Recipient in the Student category at the AIIA iAwards 2026 — independent, national validation of the platform. See the award.

Microsoft Alignment

Backed by the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub, providing a robust Azure AI and IoT foundation for enterprise-grade scalability.

Industry Validation

Featured at the VTC Carbon Neutrality Forum 2024, demonstrating alignment with municipal sustainability frameworks.

Partner With Us

Accelerating Coastal Intelligence

We are actively seeking strategic partnerships to expand from advanced prototype to regional platform.

Target 1: Pilot Sites

Access to beaches, private resorts, or coastal parks for controlled, extended field validation of our hardware and software suite.

Target 2: Commercial Partners

Municipal councils or private operators willing to trial the recurring service and platform model.

Target 3: Funding & Support

Grants, startup program entry, and advisory support to transition the hardware to a mass-manufactured industrial unit.

Submit a Partnership Interest

Use this form to connect with the EZBeachbot team about pilot sites, commercial partnerships, or funding support.