Sofar Ocean Technologies, a manufacturer of sensors and robotic systems for ocean environments, has announced the launch of Strider, a new autonomous surface vehicle specifically designed for ocean data collection.
Strider is designed to operate in coastal, near-shore and inland waters. The solar-powered system, which can be programmed to navigate autonomously or remote-controlled via the internet, features a modular design that can be integrated with a wide range of sensors and custom payloads, such as water quality sensors, side scan sonars and hydrophones. The vehicle collects real-time video with two separate cameras, both above and below the waterline, and can also be interfaced with a Sofar Trident ROV (remotely operated vehicle).
Strider can be purchased outright or hired for “mission days” where a Sofar technician will manage deployment and data collection for user-specific needs.
Tim Janssen, Sofar Co-Founder and CEO, commented: “Strider is a revolutionary development in distributed autonomous ocean vehicles. Our goal is to enable a rapid increase in data density in critical regions of our global ocean and along our coastlines. Strider is an important step toward that goal. It combines a unique focus on autonomy, modularity, and scalability that provides unprecedented flexibility, affordability and ease-of-use to marine data collection.”
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