Page 35: of Marine Technology Magazine (January 2018)

The Time for Ocean Start-Ups new services they can bring to the industry. While more and

The recent surge in underwater robotics has clearly demon- more companies are entering the market with novel technolo- strated to both the industry and scienti? c communities how gies and innovative ideas, independent start-up’s still need automation can be used in the data collection process. In the more support from the industry in the form of small grants or last few years alone, the industry is shifting from larger slow- access to facilities. adopting organizations to small innovative start-ups taking Durrant said, “It is dif? cult being a start-up in this industry. advantage of the latest trends in miniaturization and the rela- After working in a fully equipped institute, one of the big- tively low-cost entry into the market. gest challenges for me was starting my own laboratory and “If I were trying to do this ? ve years ago, it would have been having to make do with whatever I could assemble myself. a lot more dif? cult, and that is probably why more start-ups There are grants and support, but a lot of that gets eaten up by are entering our market now. There is 3D printing, satellite larger institutions, and addressing this gap should be a priority technology, battery technology and miniaturization on these for funders. It is an exciting time for ocean exploration, and elements that means in the short-term future it’s going to be I’m looking forward to the day when we have a much better much easier to collect ocean data and to mass produce afford- understanding of the ocean and how to use their resources sus- able underwater robots to complete all sorts of complex tasks. tainably. Start-up and embracing new technological concepts

It’ll be very disruptive to the industry in general. A sea of ro- will be a big part of that. Further down the line, my dream for bots; this is how the industry is going to look.” PicSea is to create a Google Maps underwater, but for now, it’s

Since launching PicSea, Durrant has found that the compa- about promoting diverse solutions and getting more people to nies ready to embrace this dawning era of ocean autonomy are ask themselves how do we collect ocean data and make it fast- also eager to engage with start-ups like PicSea and see what er, lower cost and less risky? PicSea is the answer.”

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