PODCAST: “All in the [Gallaudet] Family”
of my former partners and I ended up working with them, helping them either secure or continue work that they are doing with the Navy and NOAA and other partners in the US government. Having 36 years in the US government, I know a little bit about it!The first company (I worked with) was formerly called iXblue, now Exail, and they built a surface drone called DriX. It's designed primarily for hydrography, mapping the seafloor, which requires an ultra-stable platform. So it has a wave-piercing bow, it's designed to collect the best bathymetry in high sea states, like sea state 4 or 5.Another drone
Unmanned Maritime Systems Development Accelerates
U.S. 5th Fleet for the first time—as well as communications, artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies from industry partners.Digital Horizon 2022 will feature a formidable fleet of cutting-edge platforms and technologies. The USVs taking part include Elbit Systems’ Seagull, iXBlue DriX, L3Harris Arabian Fox, Marine Advanced Robotics WAM-V, MARTAC’s Devil Ray T-38, Ocean Aero TRITON, Open Ocean Robotics Data Xplorer, Saildrone Explorer, Seasats X3 and SeaTrac SP48.Digital Horizon was a three-week event in the Middle East focused on employing artificial intelligence and
DriX USV Takes Part in Military Exercise in Bahrain
Exail, formerly iXblue, recently took part in the Digital Horizon Unmanned & Artificial Intelligence Exercise in Bahrain, organized by the US Navy. The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet held the three-week exercise in December to test new unmanned technologies, as part of its plans to establish the world’s first Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) fleet of one hundred drones in the Gulf by the end of the summer.The current geopolitical situation means that manned assets are in increasing demand elsewhere, leading the Navy to look to the latest unmanned technologies to expand its capabilities. Vice Adm.
Exail: A New (Old) Name in Subsea
ECA Group and iXblue join forces and become ExailFollowing the acquisition of iXblue by Group Gorgé at the end of September, ECA Group and iXblue announced that both companies will be operating under a new joint brand: Exail.Exail aims to be a global high-tech industrial champion specializing in robotics, maritime, navigation, aerospace and photonics technologies, and according to Fabien Napolitano, CEO of iXblue, "Joining forces under a joint brand allows us to become a major global player capable of addressing new and larger markets, but also to federate our 1,500 employees around the
Groupe Gorgé Completes Its Acquisition of iXblue
French tech company Groupe Gorgé on Thursday announced it has finalized its acquisition of iXblue.Notably, the deal brings together iXblue and ECA Group, creating a European high-tech industrial leader in the fields of robotics, maritime, navigation, aerospace and photonics. The two companies will benefit from a global workforce of 1,500 people and will achieve an annual turnover of €250 million. Together, iXblue and ECA Group will provide customers with an offer ranging from components to complex systems to support critical missions in severe environments.Fabien Napolitano, President
USVs Eye Offshore Wind Opportunities
will have capability to tow traditional side scan sonar and magnetometer sensors and host ROVs and AUVs, says Michael King, Sales and Business Development, Ocean Infinity. UAV support is also in the plan.Shorter-term, the company has a fleet of 8m L3Harris C-Worker USVs and, following its acquisition of iXblue Australia, two DriX on order for delivery later this year.Ocean Infinity’s larger vessels are “a very different ball game”, says King. “Once you’ve got those platforms in place you can use them for an awful lot of things,” not least operating in deeper, harsher
iXblue, ECA Group Demo Subsea Asset Tracking to Polish Naval Academy
iXblue and ECA Group reportedly demonstrated successful subsea asset tracking in shallow waters using iXblue Gaps M7 USBL (Ultra Short BaseLine) positioning system and ECA Group new R7 ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle).Hosted by their local partner THESTA, a Polish company providing maritime navigation services and communication systems for the defense sector, the demonstration was organized for the Polish Naval Academy and NAVSUP 2022 attendees with the aim of showing that accurate positioning of underwater targets is possible in a potentially hostile and fast-approaching environment, in coastal
Seaforth Geosurveys adds iXblue Gaps M5 USBL to its Survey Equipment Pool
Marine Survey company Seaforth Geosurveys acquired iXblue Gaps M5 USBL system to support data acquisition for marine geophysical survey projects, including one in the Canadian Arctic as well as multiple other projects such as support of sidescan sonar operations during lost and abandoned fishing gear (Ghost Gear) identification and retrieval efforts.The latest addition to iXblue’s USBL product range, Gaps M5 offers accurate positioning and tracking of subsea assets with horizontal tracking capabilities and high-precision geo-referenced positioning, especially in shallow waters where it has shown
AUV Extravaganza: Tech Advances in Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
a prototype for the U.S. Navy, HII’s REMUS 300 is being delivered to customers, mostly in the military domain.The 2.5m-long, 19cm-diameter dry hull-design vehicle is designed for work at up to 5 knots down to 300 m, with modular battery options allowing up to 10, 20 or 30 hours endurance. It has iXblue Phins C3 INS, Teledyne DVL and acoustic LBL aiding for navigation, plus side scan sonar, with a raft of optional payloads.It has a common operating system for interoperability with all other REMUS vehicles and an open-architecture and modularity to enable easy integration of hardware and software
February 2024
