Deep Trekker secures $6,000,000 Grant for advanced subsea technology development

Canada's Ocean Supercluster awarded two new innovation projects to Deep Trekker for $6,000,000 to develop a Resident Autonomous Aquaculture Cage Inspection system and an Autonomous, Unmanned Vessel with submersible vehicle flyout to perform inspections and build models of offshore wind structures. This grant will help push Deep Trekker's technology to the forefront of artificial intelligence and autonomy in sustainable industries.

'It is important to monitor the integrity of structures in open water to inform decisions of how to maintain these critical assets,' notes Sam Macdonald, President of Deep Trekker. 'These grants will enable us to create families of unmanned systems that are safer and easier to deploy than ever before.'

The new resident inspection system will have a remotely operated vehicle stationed in a garage ready to deploy to perform inspections and maintenance of nets to minimise the risk of collapse, fish escapes, and ensure fish health overtime on fish farms. Working in collaboration with Visual Defence, Deep Trekker's inspection system will utilise artificial intelligence and machine learning to reduce the burden of identifying defects on the human operators of the systems.

The other project is what can be described as a mother-daughter system, where an unmanned surface vessel deploys a remotely operated vehicle with sensors that enable it to scan a structure and build a model of it. The project will produce a system that allows operators to control it from shore and drive out to an offshore wind farm to inspect structures such as monopiles safely and easily. The offshore wind inspection system project is a collaboration between unmanned surface vessel manufacturer HydroSurv, underwater laser and photogrammetry sensor manufacturer Voyis, and Deep Trekker.

Both of these systems will play an important role in making inspections more cost-effective, safer, and more accessible for sustainable food and energy production. Maintaining these structures will ensure access to cleaner energy and sustainable animal protein.

For more information visit the Deep Trekker website, HERE.

The Aquaculturists

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