Gecko Robotics lands the largest U.S. Navy robotics deal yet

TechCrunch: Gecko Robotics wins $71M Navy deal:

Gecko Robotics, a company in Pittsburgh that makes robots and sensors, has signed a five-year deal with the U.S. Navy worth up to $71 million. The Navy will use Gecko’s robots to check the health of ships and other heavy equipment. The robots will crawl into small spaces like pipes and tight corners that humans can’t easily reach. After checking these areas, the robots will create a “digital twin” of each ship. A digital twin is a detailed computer model that shows the exact condition of the ship.

Using robots and sensors:

The Navy wants to keep more ships ready for missions. Right now, about 40% of Navy ships are being repaired at any time. The Navy plans to have 80% of ships ready by 2027. With Gecko’s robot system, the Navy can spot problems before they get worse. This will help ships spend less time in repair and save money on maintenance. The Navy spends about $13 billion to $20 billion each year on keeping ships working. These ships are getting older, so fixing them quickly is important.

Building better maintenance systems:

Jake Loosararian, who leads Gecko Robotics, says their system helps the Navy make faster decisions about repairs. The robots create a living digital model of each ship that updates automatically. This model shows exactly what needs fixing. Loosararian explains, “You want to know what’s broken and what to fix while ships are working.” Gecko has worked with the Navy for four years. The Navy was impressed after trying the robots and sensors.

Future of ship maintenance:

The new deal will start with 18 ships in the Pacific Ocean. Gecko’s robots will check every part of these ships and create digital models for each one. The Navy can then use these models to plan repairs and prevent bigger problems. Loosararian hopes ships will need fewer repair cycles in the future because problems will be found and fixed early. His goal is for ships to work more and get repaired less.