French subsea firm Forssea Robotics and UK-based Subsea Technology & Rentals (STR) have agreed a global exclusive partnership.
The moves follows a partnership formed between the two companies in June last year (2018). As part of the new partnership, STR has invested in Forssea Robotics Visual LOCalisation (V-LOC) Positioning technology, which will be available globally for operations.
The V-LOC positioning system is a computer vision-based method able to track and position underwater markers with millimetric accuracy. The V-LOC technology is embedded inside an innovative camera, called the NAV CAM which mounted on a ROV system and markers attached onto subsea assets. The real-time output can provide the operator with live asset’s heading and attitude, or relative
distance between 2 structures.
Scott Johnstone, Group Managing Director, STR said, "Over the past year, we have worked closely with Forssea Robotics on their technology and monitored the trialing and testing of its prototypes. It has been a great opportunity for STR to support an innovative organisation who have a passion for evolving its product and are in the final stages of delivering this to the offshore industry. We firmly believe that this investment will allow us to continue to deliver world class leading technology and support services to our customers globally."
Gautier Dreyfus, Co-founder and CEO, Forssea Robotics said, "STR is a well-respected, technology focused company. I firmly believe that by forming this partnership with STR, we will penetrate the global subsea positioning markets. Our teams share the same spirit and are passionate in delivering innovative solutions to our customers. I am convinced this is just a first step as we are already working on the next generations of visual positioning subsea systems.”
Earlier this year, French navigation and positioning firm iXblue saidit had joined forces with Forssea to bring more agile and cost-effective subsea operations.