Breakthrough Aussie tech still in the works

In early 2024 Volkswagen Australia announced it had been developing an innovative accessory to prevent collisions between vehicles and kangaroos.

The project, dubbed the RooBadge, has been developed in partnership with the University of Melbourne and wildlife rescue organisation WIRES.

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It’s now been around 18 months and there hasn’t been anything publicly announced about what is happening with this project.

“At the moment it’s currently in … stage four of testing,” said Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Director Nathan Johnson to CarsGuide.

“So with a product or program like that, there is a rigorous testing procedure that has to be gone through.

“I think we’re [at] stage four now, and we’re just awaiting the results from those testings with Melbourne University and the team.”

Stage four testing is claimed to allow for testing on wild kangaroos from stationary to moving vehicles.

At this stage Volkswagen hasn’t disclosed any timeframe of when this accessory product will be available to the public for purchase.

“At the beginning we made it clear it was a bit of a passion project and we obviously saw some really strong results from that project,” said Johnson.

“The main thing is we would never come to market with anything that doesn’t work, and especially in this space.

“We’ll continue going through the testing process, making sure that it is a viable option.

“If we do get to that space, it’s something we’d love to bring to market, but we need to make sure that we do the right thing in this space as well.

“So there is more to come. I’m awaiting an update as we speak.”

Volkswagen initially revealed the RooBadge as a 17cm disc that is mounted instead of a badge on the grille. The company has also since revealed a number plate mountable version that’s intended to be installed on any vehicle, regardless of the make.

The RooBadge emits a high-frequency sound to deter kangaroos from remaining on the road and in the path of a vehicle.

Kangaroo deterrents with high-frequency noise isn’t unheard of as a vehicle accessory, but Volkswagen claims it’s the world’s first scientifically proven vehicular kangaroo deterrent.

It uses GPS and telemetry data so it only activates when travelling at certain places where there are kangaroo collision hotspots. It can also vary the sound emitted depending on GPS data so it deters the right species of kangaroo.