Greensea IQ is developing a commercial, undersea autonomous system that can detect explosives, writes Nick Flaherty.

The Autonomous Expeditionary Maritime Response Vehicle (AEMRV) prototype was developed with the US Navy last year, and it is being extended to demonstrate a production-ready, edge-processing configuration of its EOD Workspace solution for EOD operations, called EOD Edge.

EOD Edge uses Greensea’s IQNS processing platform with autonomy and automatic target recognition (ATR) components.

The platform consists of an Nvidia edge processor and integrated fibre-optic gyro, aiding navigation sensors, along with Greensea’s patented navigation solution for small, underwater robots. It is designed as an upgrade for systems currently running Greensea’s defence software suite and it is used throughout its robot product line. 

Greensea is augmenting IQNS for this program, with advanced autonomy capabilities for acquiring, classifying and eventually neutralising subsea threats. It will provide an upgrade for the existing fleet of VideoRay Defender ROVs currently being used by the US Navy.

Developing EOD Edge to incorporate advanced AI features, such as target classification using sonar while in an untethered or long-range standoff configuration, significantly improves threat detection. 

“The concepts of autonomy and AI foster ideas of futuristic robots replacing humans and the way we work on the ocean,” said Ben Kinnaman, founder and CEO of Greensea IQ. 

“In reality, autonomy and AI, at almost any stage of development, can aid humans and how we work in the ocean. In this case, these technologies will keep warfighters safe, provide greater reach and give them an opportunity to do more with less.”

A lighter weight deployment with a smaller version, the IQNS Mini, will also be available. 

Greensea IQ has also developed an underwater hull-inspection robot. This combines a hull-crawling robot with multiple, integrated, ultrasonic metal-thickness sensors and cameras (more details on the system below).