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Continued Technology Development for Autonomous Hull Cleaning Robot

Greensea Systems has developed a novel, hull-relative positioning system for use in a hull crawling robot designed and built by Armach Robotics By Caroline Rees / 01 Aug 2022
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US Navy Awards Contract for Autonomous Hull Cleaning Vehicle

Greensea Systems Inc. has been awarded a contract for a 2-year Phase II Option Period by the US Navy’s Office of Naval Research to continue the technology development for an Autonomous Hull Cleaning Vehicle. 

This is a continuation of the work that Greensea has been conducting through a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program since 2018. While the first phase of the contract was focused on designing the system, this second phase will focus on refining the navigation and autonomy of the technology. 

To achieve the goals of Phase II, Greensea has partnered with the University of Maryland Centre for Environmental Science’s Maritime Environmental Resource Center (MERC) and Armach Robotics. 

MERC brings significant expertise in biofouling control methods and will provide critical support in independent, scientific assessments of the robots’ navigation, autonomy and cleaning technologies efficiency and efficacy. With Armach Robotics, a sister company of Greensea, providing the robots and robot operators to conduct field operations throughout the period of performance, Greensea will continue to focus on the navigation and autonomy refinement.

A final requirement of any STTR program is to demonstrate the commercial viability of the technology, in addition to demonstrating its value to the US Navy. To achieve this, Greensea has developed a novel, hull-relative positioning system for use in a hull crawling robot designed and built by Armach Robotics. 

Using a combination of inertial and feature based sonar navigation, the Armach hull cleaning robot will be capable of determining and continually updating its position on the ship’s hull with extreme accuracy, allowing Greensea’s autonomy capabilities to free the operator from driving the robot.

“The objective of this STTR is to develop a highly autonomous robotic system for proactively cleaning ship hulls, that can be operated easily and cost effectively with minimal supervision. The Navy is investigating this technology as a means to keep ships clear of biofouling in an environmentally sustainable way, ensuring fleet readiness and ultimately reducing hull related maintenance costs,” said Karl Lander, Armach Robotics’ Director of Regulatory Compliance and Outreach. “The focus of the earlier Phase I and II efforts were to design, characterize, develop and test a navigation system that can provide the required accurate on-hull navigation. The focus of the newly awarded option period is to continue to refine the navigation and autonomy technology, demonstrate the capabilities through proactive cleaning of a vessel of significance to the US Navy, and deliver a complete data package for the cleaning system.”

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Posted by Caroline Rees Caroline co-founded Unmanned Systems Technology and has been at the forefront of the business ever since. With a Masters Degree in marketing Caroline has her finger on the pulse of all things unmanned and is committed to showcasing the very latest in unmanned technical innovation. Connect & Contact
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