Greensea receives US NAVY award to advance Standoff Command and Control
Greensea Systems, Inc. creator of OPENSEA®, the open architecture robotics platform for the marine industry, is pleased to announce the award of a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) ASAP grant totaling $1,100,000, with option for additional funding, for the continued development of Standoff Command and Control of Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs). This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, under Contract No. N6833521C0113.
The Phase II award will further the development of Greensea’s long range standoff command and control system for ROVs towards providing the US Navy a capability of conducting water-borne Explosive Ordnance Disposal operations with marine robotics from a safe standoff distance. The standoff system is hardware, transmission, and vehicle agnostic and provides high levels of autonomy for the ROV as well as the coordination of launch and recovery, vehicle tether, and host USV platform. Greensea’s long range standoff system leverages almost 15 years of developing supervised autonomy systems for ROVs and by virtue of being built on OPENSEA, is entirely open architecture. Commercial applications of this technology include operating highly integrated ROVs and robotic systems from Unmanned Surface Vessels by operators located anywhere in the world.
Ben Kinnaman, CEO of Greensea, is the Principal Investigator of this Phase II SBIR award. “The long range standoff command and control of ROVs is the single best solution to keep the warfighter safe by getting them as far as possible from a subsea threat,” notes Kinnaman. Peter Kerson, Program Manager for EOD Technologies at Greensea, adds “standoff command and control will dramatically increase flexibility and maneuverability of maritime expeditionary EOD forces, and that same flexibility will be invaluable to industry users who want to centralize ROV operations, reduce personnel who have to go to sea, and migrate to fully unmanned offshore services.”
While the technology is being developed for the military, Greensea is working with leading marine industry companies on commercialized variants of the technology. Greensea’s technology will directly address the shortage of offshore personnel for ROV operations including near-term shortages associated with the COVID pandemic.
ABOUT GREENSEA SYSTEMS, INC.
Greensea is the creator of OPENSEA, an open architecture software platform, and is a world leader in navigation and autonomy technology for marine robotics. With offices in Richmond, VT and Plymouth, MA, Greensea develops software and hardware that revolutionizes the working relationship between people and machines. They are known for innovative and powerful technology designed for in-the-field success by a team of industry-experienced engineers driven to help customers get their job done. Since 2006, the company has successfully delivered more than 1,000 OPENSEA-based systems to the manned and unmanned maritime industry. Greensea directly supports several military programs with products, training, and technology development, including Explosive Ordnance Disposal using miniature marine robotics, Special Operations Forces combat diving, and ship hull robotics. Greensea also provides OPENSEA software products and services to Original Equipment Manufacturers and leading developers and integrators throughout the marine industry.
