Home » Case Studies » How Sydney Startup Puralink Scales Autonomous Infrastructure Robotics with Xometry

How Sydney Startup Puralink Scales Autonomous Infrastructure Robotics with Xometry

Sydney deep-tech startup Puralink builds The Ferret, an autonomous robot that inspects underground pipes from the inside. With Xometry, it sources micro-precision CNC machined and 3D printed parts and gets test units into the field fast.

Industry
Robotics
Country
flag

Australia

Use case
Procurement
Technology
3D PrintingCNC Machining
Materials

Aluminum 6061, Brass H62, Stainless Steel 316L, PEEK

Product

Infrastructure robotics & autonomous systems, like “The Ferret”, an autonomous pipe inspection robotics

case hover image

Xometry helped us refine our hardware, execute prototypes quickly, and get test units into the field with our customer base.

Shyeon Delnawaz Co-founder and COO Puralink

When a massive pipe burst turned Harrison Crowe-Maxwell’s Sydney street into a raging river, the response from local authorities was almost as disruptive as the leak itself. Sydney Water turned off the neighbourhood supply and excavated half the road just to pinpoint the failure.

For Crowe-Maxwell, an engineering student at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), the scene sparked a fundamental question: Why dig up a city street when a robot could inspect the pipe from the inside?

That moment became the genesis of Puralink. Founded alongside co-founders Shyeon Delnawaz (COO) and Thien Long Tran (CTO), the Sydney-based deep-tech startup builds hyper-mobile, autonomous inspection robots designed to navigate the underground arteries cities rely on. From wastewater and sewer systems to energy, mining, and data center infrastructure.

Founders of Puralink
Founders of Puralink

Their flagship robot, “The Ferret,” miniaturises advanced sensors, edge compute, and patented drive technology into a compact mechanical frame. Capable of navigating tight corners, intersections, and vertical drops hands-free, The Ferret allows utility operators to spot structural flaws long before catastrophic bursts happen.

However, taking a patented capstone thesis from UTS classrooms to deploying hardware on iconic assets like the Sydney Opera House meant confronting a classic Australian challenge: overcoming geographical distance and scaling precision hardware fast.

Overcoming Sourcing Barriers: Speed, Quality, and Australia’s Distance

Building miniaturised robotics for harsh, pressurised underground environments leaves no room for error. The Ferret relies on micron-level tolerances, micro-pitch gear accuracy, and watertight mechanical sealing.

For a fast-moving Australian startup, sourcing high-precision custom parts through traditional channels presented immediate roadblocks.

Harrison Crowe-Maxwell

Founder and CEO of Puralink

Supply chain headaches are part of the hardware journey. Our components are heavily miniaturised because we operate in extremely confined pipe geometries. Getting tiny gears accurate, keeping machined parts within strict tolerances, and ensuring every face holds up under pressure-testing is critical. Quality and precision are everything.

Beyond precision, time zone isolation and overseas lead times threatened strict build deadlines. Especially when public holidays like Lunar New Year halted production schedules.

Shyeon Delnawaz

Co-founder and COO

In Australia, lead times are a massive hurdle at the best of times. As a startup, time is everything. Managing overseas suppliers directly meant dealing with language barriers and communication delays when discussing ultra-precise specs. Having a partner who bridges those gaps, manages time zones, and guarantees lead times was crucial.

CNC Machining: Turning Screen Designs into Physical Reality

To maintain maximum structural strength, material flexibility, and rapid execution, Puralink relies on CNC machining for most of its custom hardware components, supplemented by Selective Laser Melting (SLM) metal 3D printing.

Through Xometry, Puralink turns 3D CAD models into physical assembly parts tailored across a diverse engineering palette:

  • High-Precision Brass (H62): Used for micro-machined sun gears, planet gears, and gearbox cases where smooth gear mesh and low friction are vital.
  • Structural Aluminum (EN AW-6061): Machined for main chassis links, motor tops, and suspension mounts to maximise strength while keeping the robot lightweight.
  • Stainless Steel (SUS 316L): Selected for pulley tensioners, linker output carriers, and shoulder bolts exposed to corrosive wastewater.
  • Engineering Polymers (PEEK): Machined for custom low-friction bushings capable of enduring continuous rotational wear without degrading.

Harrison Crowe-Maxwell

Founder and CEO of Puralink

Speed and material flexibility are the main reasons we choose CNC machining. It’s one thing to see a micro-gear on a CAD screen where it looks huge, but when the physical part arrives and fits right on the tip of your finger with perfect gear mesh, that’s when design turns into realit

Global Capacity Backed by Dedicated Local Support

For Puralink, partnering with Xometry provided the ideal combination: unrestricted access to global manufacturing capacity paired with responsive, localised support.

When complex geometries or tight tolerances required extra technical alignment, Xometry’s local Australian account team managed supplier communications and quality assurance.

Shyeon Delnawaz

Co-founder and COO

One thing that really stood out with Xometry was their support when it came to quality control. With micro-precision parts going overseas, language barriers and time differences can make you feel disconnected. Whenever a complex part needed adjustments, Xometry handled it directly with the manufacturer. They stood by their work, ensuring parts met spec before we paid. Having someone in your corner who makes sure things are right takes a huge weight off a startup’s shoulders.

Scaling from Sydney to the Global Stage

Over the past 18 months, Puralink has expanded from its founding team to a 16-person engineering powerhouse, driven by rapid customer adoption and closed beta testing across municipal assets.

With Ferret Alpha 2 gearing up for its official market launch early next year (alongside upcoming deployments across the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge,…), Puralink is proving that Australian hardware startups can scale globally when backed by resilient digital infrastructure.

“Now, our goal is simple: get as many Ferrets out into the world as possible to protect critical infrastructure,” concludes Delnawaz.

Discover more about Puralink: https://puralink.com/