Kraken, Square Robot Form Robotics Partnership
Kraken Sonar Systems Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kraken Sonar Inc., has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Square Robot, Inc. for the design, manufacture and support of advanced sensors and robotic systems for confined area inspection applications used by the worldwide oil and gas industry.
The Boston headquartered Square Robot is a privately-held robotics company recently created by former Bluefin Robotics Corporation executives Eric Levitt, Dr. Jerome Vaganay and William O’Halloran that is building a service-based business for confined area inspection applications. Working in conjunction with Square Robot, Kraken will co-develop a series of robotic devices that will use advanced acoustic, optical and laser sensors to conduct remote inspection of confined area assets used by the global oil and gas industry.
“Robots are transforming many industries,” O’Halloran said. “Square Robot and Kraken bring together technological capabilities, intellectual property and expertise to create an innovative robotic platform capable of significantly improving confined area inspection applications.”
Under the terms of the strategic partnering agreement with Square Robot, Kraken said it expects to be awarded an initial contract for sensors, software and systems development within 60 days and will also become a minority shareholder in Square Robot. Longer term, Kraken will be the exclusive manufacturing and product support partner to Square Robot and expects to work with Square Robot on the development of additional robotic systems for other inspection applications.
Karl Kenny, Kraken’s President and CEO, said, “We are delighted to be teaming up with Square Robot, whose founders have proven capability and expertise in industrial robotics. Both companies believe that small, agile robotic inspection systems will bring about considerable improvements for assessing the condition of key oil and gas assets. Integrating advanced sensors onboard these robots increases the precision of measurement and the quality of the resulting data.”
Kraken plans to utilize intellectual property from its KATFISH platform as well as the underwater robotics technology it acquired from Marine Robotics Inc. – including the SQX-500 vehicle, a hydro-dynamically stable platform designed for hovering operations.
Increased demand for automation is a key driver of the global industrial robotics market. Many dull, dangerous or dirty tasks can be accomplished using industrial robots. The major trends in the global robotics market include advancements in micro-navigation systems, machine learning and component miniaturization; omnipresence of the Internet; and the rise of handheld devices like laptops, smartphones and tablets.
Inspection robots play an important part in the oil and gas industry by undertaking the invaluable role of inspection, monitoring, and surveillance of complex structures. The use of these robots reduce human intervention, increase operational efficiency and enhance safety while reducing cost.
