Marine Acoustics and Jaia Robotics to Codevelop Acoustic Monitoring Capability

Jaia Robotics, Inc., developer of low-cost, micro-sized autonomous marine vehicles, announced it has partnered with Marine Acoustics, Inc. (MAI) to add a passive acoustic capability onto its JaiaBot hybrid autonomous surface/underwater vehicles called JaiaBots.

MAI’s engineering team will lead the selection and development of the passive acoustic system, the sales and marketing of the JaiaBot-ECHO, and develop new deployment opportunities. Jaia Robotics continues its product development and will co-lead the integration of the MAI developed acoustic system into its JaiaBot-HYDRO vehicle.

JaiaBots can be operated individually or in multi-vehicle fleets at depths from 1m to 100m and in a wide variety of aquatic environments including open ocean, surf zones, estuaries, rivers, and lakes, supporting the environmental data collection needs of academia, , industry, and government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense.

“The addition of an acoustic sensing capability opens a wide variety of new markets including the offshore renewable energy sector, defense, and the fast growing aquaculture and fisheries industries,” said Ian Estaphan Owen, CEO and Co-Founder of Jaia Robotics. “[The partnership with MAI] further endorses the unique multi vehicle synoptic data applications that the JaiaBot system can provide, at a cost that is more affordable than anything else available.”

Tom Stewart, CEO of Marine Acoustics, inc., said, “The relatively low-cost acoustic monitoring vehicles that Jaia Robotics will produce provide a versatile, cost-effective, human portable tool for obtaining aquatic acoustic measurements at multiple sample sites over a short period of time. This capability aids in the sustainable development of ocean-based renewable energy and the responsible development and use of the marine environment.”