By Kathy Chouteau
As the Biden administration looks to ramp up U.S. offshore wind capacity by 2030, a Richmond-based startup aims to help the effort using electric, autonomous submarines and software that maps the seafloor to help identify ideal sites for offshore wind farms, among other applications, according to a CNBC report.
Bedrock’s electric autonomous underwater vehicle (e-AUV) uses light-weight sonar and other sensors to collect data that it transmits to its own cloud-based service, according to the report.
Running on a lithium-ion battery that can be easily changed, Bedrock’s electric mini subs can run for 12- or 24-hour missions at a typical speed of 2 to 3 knots (under 5 mph) to conduct surveys up to 300 meters in depth, per CNBC.
Bedrock’s technology streamlines these types of marine surveys, which traditionally would utilize a crewed ship at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars and take up to a year, Bedrock Co-founder and CEO Anthony DiMare told CNBC.
DiMare is an entrepreneur and mechanical engineer who has teamed up on the venture with CTO Charlie Chiau, a former SpaceX systems integration engineer.
Learn more about Bedrock here.
