Kraken Robotics Inc. has entered into a partnership agreement with Greensea Systems Inc., which is known for its open architecture robotic platform called OPENSEA.

Under the agreement, Greensea will support development, integration, and testing work with Kraken across several of the company's technology platforms.

“The partnership we have signed is very significant. It is a relationship formed between the most disruptive, agile, and aggressive technology developers in the industry,” says Ben Kinnaman, CEO of Greensea.

“Greensea’s powerful open architecture software platform combined with Kraken’s sensor technology, vehicles, and services will create the next generation of robotics for the subsea industry. The value this partnership creates will drive business for both of our companies.”

The partnership will expand upon the work that the companies have already done together to “rapidly advance the capabilities of marine robotics.” Over the last 12 months, the companies have collaborated to utilize the OPENSEA Platform and provide a “robust, modular, and extensible” software architecture for Kraken’s AUVs and towed systems.

The partnership agreement simplifies contracting between the companies, while also allowing for on-going collaboration for software and hardware technologies. Greensea will support Kraken in maturing on-going programs and accelerating new commercial offerings, including providing support for Kraken’s R&D programs under the scope of the OceanVision project.

“We originally began working with Greensea in 2018, when we were looking to expand the capabilities of our ThunderFish AUV platform. Throughout that project, I was very pleased to observe how well our teams worked together, the synergies between culture and capability, and to see the full capabilities of the Greensea software architecture in action,” says Karl Kenny, Kraken’s president & CEO.

“Since then, we have expanded our work together to include the KATFISH system, and integration of our SeaVision laser scanner. This partnership agreement will allow Kraken to engage Greensea in a larger capacity and enables a framework for ongoing collaboration and cooperation.”

Kraken and Greensea also plan to work together specifically in the areas of seabed residency and hull inspection. Thus far, they have successfully equipped the Greensea OPENSEA Platform and Greensea hardware products—including the newly developed Greensea Hull Crawler system—with Kraken sensors.

The first phase of this work was completed in February when the companies equipped a prototype of the Greensea Crawler with Kraken’s SeaVision 3D RGB Underwater Laser Scanner. The system was fielded in Florida and demonstrated inspections of a real-world vessel.