Swarming River Robots Development Grant

These small "smart" floats will travel in intercommunicating groups capable of repositioning themselves in a river to avoid hazards and provide real-time survey data from a variety of onboard sensors. The robotic floats are expected to weigh less than 10 pounds each. ONR has committed up to USD100,000 for the design phase of the project. Upon successful completion of this phase, up to an additional USD1,000,000 may be granted for further development and production. Oceanscience will work closely with Robotic Marine Systems (RMS) of Gray, Maine, experts in automation and "smart" vehicle behaviour.

"This grant allows us to merge Oceanscience's industry-leading riverine monitoring experience with MIT and RMS expertise in advanced vessel autononomy," says Oceanscience CEO Ron George. "Our team is ideally suited to meet the Navy's need for cutting-edge swarming riverine monitoring systems."

The Department of Defence STTR program funds early-stage R&D projects for small technology companies to work cooperatively with researchers at universities and other research institutions. The small companies retain the intellectual property rights to technologies developed under the programme.