The US Navy is partnering with industry and academia on a multi-phase CTMA initiative to demonstrate the advantages of robotics in the maintenance and sustainment of ship hulls, and to advance the vacuum crawler as a solution to this problem. This effort will build off the success of the Phase I Alpha effort to utilize  advancements in system design and architecture to begin developing the Beta version of the vacuum crawler robot. Phase II will focus on mechanically developing the vacuum crawler system to incorporate the design electronics and control system and advance the structural design for ruggedized operations.

For more information about this ongoing project contact CTMA@ncms.org.