Page 54: of Marine Technology Magazine (May 2020)

Case Study

Subsea defense technology put to the test

Greensea Systems and the EOD Workspace

A good example of the application of

Greensea’s technology and business model is within our EOD Technologies business segment. This business seg- ment is built around our EOD Workspace software product and is designed to fully support maritime Explosive Ordnance

Disposal (EOD) activities using robotics.

Within this segment Greensea provides open architecture software solutions based on OPENSEA as well as support, training, and R&D to develop additional technologies to meet emerging require- ments.

Greensea has been supporting EOD

Greensea Systems forces since 2014 with several OEM software products felded through various

Screenshot of EOD Workspace software.

Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) manu- tional picture. technologies already developed, rapidly facturers. Through this experience, it has

EOD Workspace uses the OPENSEA transition emerging technologies to the learned of the growing disparity between framework to provide a comprehensive feet, and respond to new requirements the defense industry’s expectations for open architecture solution for expedition- easily.

miniature ROVs and what the commercial ary robotics. It is based on Greensea’s Greensea has demonstrated the power industry was providing. Commercially open architecture navigation, vehicle con- of this open architecture framework since available ROVs were coming close to ful- trol and autonomy, and human machine the 2018 release of EOD Workspace. It flling what EOD forces needed, namely interface technologies. EOD Workspace has provided support for several commer- keeping pace with the evolving require- is designed to bridge the gap between cial and custom ROVs to EOD Work- ments of the military.

commercial robotics and the requirements space, extended EOD Workspace to diver

Traditionally, capability has been linked of expeditionary units. The sole purpose hand-held navigation devices, and have to hardware. Consumers purchased an of this software is to make ROVs easier to integrated AUVs with EOD Workspace.

ROV for the capability it provides. In this learn, easier to operate, and more effec- It has also responded to new requirements procurement model, the defense industry tive to use for highly critical tasks related by developing plug-in modules for EOD was limited by technology the hardware to fnding, identifying, and destroying Workspace that include hull crawling ca-

OEM could produce and support. subsea threats. It can also be extended pabilities, manipulator support, advanced

Greensea set out to change this para- to encompass data from other platforms, intervention modes, tool operation, digm by offering capability through soft- provide supervision and mission planning and long-range standoff command and ware that could be ported to any hardware over other platforms, and allow interoper- control.

platform.

ability between multiple teams and assets. Greensea complements this technology

In 2018, Greensea released EOD Work-

Perhaps the most powerful aspect of and broadens the business segment by space for the US Navy to evaluate. EOD

EOD Workspace is what it does not do providing comprehensive support and

Workspace is a vehicle and hardware today, but could do tomorrow. EOD training to EOD operators. Training and agnostic open architecture software suite

Workspace, built on OPENSEA, is made support include an online knowledge designed specifcally to support opera- to evolve. base, training videos, in-feld training tions involving searching, identifying,

This vehicle agnostic software platform classes, and train-the-trainer courses. We reacquiring, engaging, and mitigating a is designed to deliver capabilities, fast, are also releasing an EOD Workspace submerged threat with a single robot or and with precision. It is designed to reach simulator in the second quarter of 2020 to team of robots. EOD Workspace is often far beyond the physical system of a com- assist operators learn the software, main- deployed as the command and control mercial or bespoke ROV and encapsulate tain profciency, and practice operations software system for a single ROV, but it capability. The open architecture allows on their personal laptops without the need can also manage multiple vehicles and the defense industry to use existing to deploy an ROV.

vessels working within the total opera- May 2020 54

MTR