Nauticus Robotics, a firm specializing in creating autonomous robots with artificial intelligence for ocean data collection, recently announced an extension to its current contract with Leidos Holdings. The amendment brings an added $2.7 million to further the development of a new Aquanaut-derivative ahead of potential customer adoption and expected government opportunities later in the year.
The innovative subsea platform is an uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV). It's enhanced with cutting-edge artificial intelligence and advanced sensing mechanisms, allowing it to undertake an increasing range of tasks that would typically require human divers. Since 2022, Leidos, a leading science and technology enterprise listed on the FORTUNE 500, has poured a total of $14.5 million into this venture. This significant investment indicates the anticipated importance of the developed technology for upcoming government projects.
Drawing parallels with Nauticus' commercial UUV platform, Aquanaut, the new derivative robot is crafted with state-of-the-art features that aid in security activities. Its capabilities are evolving, enabling it to tackle extended and more intricate missions. Alongside this, the funding from Leidos will also bolster autonomous behaviors and operational abilities of toolKITT, Nauticus' in-house software. toolKITT aims to cultivate an ecosystem of autonomous operations for underwater vehicles and is pivotal to the project's success.
Nicolaus Radford, the CEO and founder of Nauticus Robotics, expressed his sentiment on the expanded partnership with Leidos:
"This very important work combines great attributes from each company to deploy a truly novel subsea capability.”
To provide some context, Nauticus Robotics is at the forefront of designing autonomous robots that harness artificial intelligence for marine data collection and intervention. Their offerings, which range from robotic systems to services, cater to both commercial and government sectors. They employ a Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) business model and also partake in direct sales, covering both hardware and software licenses.
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