Blueprint Lab, VideoRay Team Up on EOD Tool for US Navy

Australian robotic arms developer Blueprint Lab and US-based ROV developer VideoRay have partnered to further integrate and field Blueprint Lab’s Reach Alpha, said to be the world’s smallest, lightest, subsea manipulator system.

A key application of this technology is rendering safe underwater mines on ships, shipping lanes, ports, and offshore infrastructure.

The partnership between VideoRay and Blueprint Lab is aimed to further their close collaboration with the U.S. and other allied navies in the iterative process of refining tools, techniques, and mission planning to stay safe and effective in the evolving technology of undersea warfare.

VideoRay and Blueprint Lab are working under the VideoRay Integrator program, which empowers partners to develop and customize Mission Specialist technology to meet specific customer missions.

Anders Ridley-Smith, business development manager of Blueprint Lab, said: “Blueprint Lab has worked incredibly hard to develop robotic arms that are robust, dexterous, and intuitive to use. We’re excited to bring these to the Navy through collaboration with VideoRay. Their ROV platform provides an advanced, powerful delivery system to bring our manipulators to bear on the threat environment and we look forward to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible underwater.”

“We’re very excited about this collaboration, and what it means in extending the state of the art in EOD response underwater,” said Scott Bentley, CEO of VideoRay. “The combination of the best underwater vehicle technology – our power, flexibility, and precise underwater navigation, and Blueprint Lab manipulator capabilities in dexterity, durability, and operator interface – are providing the best tool for our warfighters by far.”