Magnetic crawler robots for marine antifouling

Alicia Bots’ ROVERCLEAN 3.0 is a multi-purpose magnetic crawler robot that can operate autonomously or remotely via a tether cable. Designed to carry out underwater inspection and maintenance tasks on ships and other steel structures, the robots are claimed to deliver a reduction in hull fouling, helping to reduce fuel consumption, costs, and carbon emissions. Lomar is set to deploy Alicia Bots’ robotic technology on up to fifteen of its vessels.

“Our collaboration with Lomar is a testament to them and the maritime industry's commitment to innovation and sustainability,” said Alicia Bots CEO Inder Mukhopadhyay.  

“Together, we are ushering in a new era of hull grooming, where cutting-edge technology, like the ROVERCLEAN, not only ensures a clean hull at all times but also paves the way for a greener and more efficient maritime future."

Combining precision robotics and AI-powered analytics, the magnetic crawlers are said to enable safer, more efficient practices across a range of maritime practices. Apart from hull grooming, the minibots are slated for use in cargo hold cleaning, firefighting, corrosion detection, reparation assistance, data collection, underwater inspections, and thickness measurements.