Nauticus Robotics, a Houston-area developer of subsea and surface robotic services using autonomy software, has entered into an agreement with Shell to advance to the qualification phase for a more efficient means of acquiring subsea integrity data utilizing Nauticus’ Aquanaut and Hydronaut robotic platforms. This collaboration will enable Shell to add an advanced tool to its subsea asset integrity management lineup with the potential to improve subsea operations. Shell and Nauticus will collaborate with the industry’s leading inspection tooling service providers, leveraging their expertise and technology to fully integrate into Nauticus’ robotic service solution.
An initial feasibility study for the phase-gated project was recently completed, and the team now moves onto the operational qualification phase, which focuses on remote operations of the robotic duo using supervised autonomy and tool control using Nauticus’ acoustic communication networking technology. The collaboration is targeting the preliminary work required for an offshore pilot project.
“Working with a leading company such as Shell marks an exciting milestone for Nauticus, and this collaboration further validates the superior capabilities and extensive use cases of our robots across the energy sector,” said Todd Newell, SVP of Business Development at Nauticus. “Implementing our supervised autonomous method – one that has proven more robust and dynamic than most of its kind – is expected to provide our partner and future customers more than 50 percent cost savings compared to today’s methods of operation.”
This collaboration will utilize the Company’s flagship and fully electric subsea robot, Aquanaut, which is deployed from Nauticus’ small surface vessel, Hydronaut – which is used for the transport, recharge, and communication for Aquanaut, among other tasks. Together, this robotic pair will function as a unified solution to bring a new means of conducting subsea work to the offshore services industry. Their inherent autonomous architectures will allow a transition to far more autonomous operations over conventional solutions.
Nauticus Robotics, Inc. is a Houston-based developer of cloud-based subsea robots, software, and services delivered in a modern business model to the ocean industry. Nauticus’ robotic systems will be delivered to commercial and government-facing customers primarily through a Robotics as a Service (RaaS) business model but also include direct product sales.
(Source: Naticus RTobotics/GlobeNewswire)