Bluefin Robotics is an American

robotics Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer s ...

company, headquartered in Quincy,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, which specialises in the design and manufacture of military and civilian

autonomous underwater vehicle An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is a robot that travels underwater without requiring continuous input from an operator. AUVs constitute part of a larger group of undersea systems known as unmanned underwater vehicles, a classification tha ...

s (AUVs) and related technology. The company was founded in 1997, and became a

wholly owned subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidiary company. Unl ...

Battelle Memorial Institute Battelle Memorial Institute (or simply Battelle) is an American private nonprofit applied science and technology development company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. History The institute was founded in 1929 by Gordon Battelle. Originall ...

in 2005. Its products include the

Bluefin-21 The Bluefin-21 is an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) developed by Bluefin Robotics for defence, commercial or scientific use. It found its most famous use in April 2014 in the search for the wreckage of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 37 ...

underwater search robot and its military derivative, the Knifefish

minesweeping Minesweeping is the practice of removing explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that purpos ...

AUV, which entered service with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

in 2017. Bluefin was involved in the development of several advanced Navy projects, including the Black Pearl AUV and the Proteus optionally-manned submersible.

Company history and overview

Bluefin Robotics was founded in 1997 by James Bellingham and Frank van Mierlo, both engineers from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

. Dr Bellingham was the manager of the MIT AUV laboratory. In 2005, the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of the

, an

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

-based

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...

company. In 2010, Bluefin Robotics won a gold award at the 7th Annual Team Massachusetts Economic Impact Awards, and in 2013 it received accolades from ''R&D Magazine'' and the ''Robotics Business Review''. In April 2014, it received a US$7.11 million federal contract from the US Navy's

Office of Naval Research The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is an organization within the United States Department of the Navy responsible for the science and technology programs of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Established by Congress in 1946, its mission is to plan ...

for the development of the Navy's experimental Black Pearl AUV. , Bluefin Robotics employs around 200 people. The company is a member of several business and technology associations, including the

Marine Technology Society The Marine Technology Society (MTS) is a professional society that serves an international community of approximately 2,000 ocean engineers, technologists, policy-makers, and educators. The goal of the society, which was founded in 1963, is to pro ...

(MTS), the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), the Mine Warfare Association (MINWARA), the

National Defense Industrial Association The National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) is a trade association for the United States government and defense industrial base. It is an 501(c)(3) educational organization. Its headquarters are in Arlington, Virginia. NDIA was establi ...

(NDIA) and the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council (MassTLC). In February 2016, General Dynamics Mission Systems acquired Bluefin Robotics. Bluefin Robotics will become part of General Dynamics Mission Systems’ Maritime and Strategic Systems line of business. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed.

In the media

The company's Bluefin-21, is a

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

-shaped multirole AUV, was used in the search for Malaysian airlines MH370. The Knifefish, a derivative of the Bluefin-21, was developed in partnership with General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems to perform

operations for the US Navy, replacing the trained minesweeping

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

s and sealions of the Marine Mammal Program in concert with the Navy's

Littoral Combat Ship A littoral combat ship (LCS) is either of two classes of relatively small surface vessels designed for littoral warfare in near-shore operations by the United States Navy. It was "envisioned to be a networked, agile, stealthy surface comba ...

s. The Knifefish is scheduled to begin

sea trials A sea trial or trial trip is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on o ...

in 2015 and to enter into active naval service in 2017. The Bluefin SandShark Micro-AUV is an autonomous UUV weighing less than 15 pounds. Its functions include intelligence missions, small-scale survey missions recovering data, communications relays, conducting training, or functioning as a decoy for the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

. HAUV is a two-man-portable hovering AUV designed for real-time data identification of structural issues on a ship's hull. In March 2011, an HAUV was used to inspect the hull of the Navy's oldest commissioned warship, USS ''Constitution'', in Boston Harbor. In 2016, in conjunction with the

, Bluefin Robotics developed the third generation Hovering Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (HAUV-3).

Company history and overview

In the media

References

See also