Tiny Hydrus subsea drone brings the drone revolution underwater

Advanced navigation, a company backed by Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation, has launched an innovative small, autonomous underwater drone, Hydrus after what the company calls a decade of development.

The Sydney AI robotics, and navigation technology company said the subsea drone would revolutionise undersea research, survey and exploration by making data capture simple and accessible.

CEO Xavier Orr said: “We’ve seen a revolution take place in the aerial drone industry, 10-15 years ago, only qualified experts could fly drones.

“Today, drones are simple and reliable enough that anyone can use them – which is why we’re seeing them in countless industries.”

Hydrus is a man-portable, tether-free drone designed to make subsea surveying and inspections easy, safe, and affordable.

Operational straight out of the box, it utilises acoustic navigation and open source software – allowing users to use their own software.

Orr said: At the moment, underwater vehicles require specialist knowledge and training to be used effectively.

“We’ve developed Hydrus to ensure professional grade underwater imagery and data is accessible to everyone, enabling greater opportunities across the ocean, whether it’s inspecting offshore wind farms, capturing undersea cinematography or monitoring coral reefs.”

Advanced Navigation develops industry-leading navigation and robotics technologies for air, land, sea, and space applications.

Picture: Advanced Navigation

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