In response to the growing demand for true ROV autonomy within the field of maritime Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) robotics, two leading players in the industry, Greensea Systems, Inc., creator of the open architecture platform OPENSEA®, and leader in autonomy and automatic target recognition (ATR), SeeByte, announce an ongoing collaboration.
The two companies have previously operated as competitors, both fielding software for ROVs, but recently recognized that to satisfy the emerging needs of key maritime robotics consumers such as the US Navy, pooling intellect and experience through collaboration is the only way forward. As a result, for the first time, their complementary skill sets are working together under a DoD OTA (Other Transaction Agreement) led by the Defense Innovation Unit valued at $1.2 million with a potential value of $4.2 million.
“Autonomy is the right solution for the warfighter trying to use robots. True ROV autonomy for EOD robotics requiring advanced technology (over-the-horizon control, intervention autonomy, and automatic target recognition) will only happen at the pace customers demand through collaboration,” says Ben Kinnaman, Greensea CEO. “Knowing SeeByte has a great ATR product, which would complement our EOD product and integrate with OPENSEA, our robotics platform, I picked up the phone and asked SeeByte if they’d be interested in working with us on a Defense Innovation Unit solicitation. It has been fun and we are fielding an awesome solution.”
“It is rare that two small companies start out as competitors in one area and progress to being partners for the benefit of the end user,” states Leverett Bezanson, SeeByte Engineering Manager. “This collaboration has been beneficial for both companies, as well as the customer. It speaks volumes that the management and engineering teams at both Greensea and SeeByte were collectively able to carve out the best-of-breed technologies from both companies, providing the best possible solutions for our customer.”
Ben Kinnaman continues, “Smart companies realize that the future of ocean business is about collaboration, building networked systems, and technology integration. Both Greensea and SeeByte recognize this, and we are looking forward to working together on several future projects.”
