Page 50: of Marine Technology Magazine (March 2023)

START-UPS

FRAMEWORK ROBOTICS

WANTS TO BE YOUR “BUDDY”

Born during the pandemic, Nico Günzel, Managing Director, Framework Robotics and his team are today embarked on a journey to deliver a family of surface and subsurface vehicles that are modular and recon? gurable, leveraging cutting edge 3D printing technology. First out of the box is the ROV dubbed “Buddy.”

By Greg Trauthwein ramework Robotics was founded in 2020 in Ros- ? rst prototype. “We wanted to build a platform for different tock in Germany when Nico Günzel and his col- solutions and different missions. Emerging from the base- leagues do what innovators in the subsea space do: ment, Framework Robotics today employs 13, with plans to they take their knowledge and experience, envision offer it ? rst market-? t ROV by the middle of 2023.

Fa better way to explore the world’s waterways, and start a company, literally in a basement. Broad Product Palette “We didn’t have a lot of money for the ? rst prototype, we Today Framework Robotics already has a broad palette of didn’t have the tools or the variety of ‘stuff’ we needed,” re- products in the works, all built on the modular/recon? gurable/ calls Günzel, “but we had a 3D printer and our know-how.” scalable mandate, and including:

With the vision of designing and building a modular, scal- • Companion, a Remotely Operated Towed Underwater able and transformable family of vehicles for work on and Vehicle (ROTV) below the waters, Framework Robotics was off to the races, • Buddy, a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) investing “thousands of hours” in designing and building its • Scout, an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) 50 March/April 2023

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