Gecko Robotics, a developer of vertical climbing robots for asset inspection, announced that it has further expanded its work with the U.S. Navy. The expansion includes a new $5 million ceiling contract with Huntington Ingalls Industries, a shipbuilding company. This is the second time this year that Gecko Robotics has expanded its work with the U.S. Navy.
With the contract expansion, Gecko Robotics aims to further increase the speed and quality of maintenance cycles for Navy surface ships, including amphibious assault ships. Gecko’s AI-powered robots gather data and build digital models of the Navy’s vessels to increase the speed of maintenance cycles and reduce the amount of time Navy vessels spend in dry dock.
Gecko’s work with the Navy includes inspecting Destroyers and amphibious assault ships at U.S. Navy regional maintenance centers. Since being deployed with the Navy, Gecko’s robots have been able to reduce the lead time required for a ship rudder inspection from 11 days to one.
“We built Gecko Robotics to collect data that has never been accessible before and use it to solve real-world problems,” Jake Loosararian, CEO and Co-founder of Gecko Robotics, said. “Helping the Navy increase the speed and efficiency of the maintenance process has a direct impact on U.S. and global security. We’re proud to support this vital mission with mature technology that has been tested and approved by leaders across the Navy.”
Gecko will be performing work across various locations where its robots will be inspecting ships for damage, gathering data for digital models of vessels, and feeding the company’s AI-powered software platform. This data can be leveraged to increase the speed of repair plans and maintenance cycles, and allow the Navy to move towards more predictive maintenance planning in the future.
Gecko isn’t just working with the US Navy, in December 2022, the company announced it was awarded an 18-month, $1.5 million contract through the US Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
The company’s technology is made for the power generation, oil and gas, heavy manufacturing and defense industries. Its TOKA Series robots, which include the TOKA 3, TOKA 4, TOKA 4 GZ and TOKA Flex, are each designed to perform under certain circumstances. Gecko also offers it MONARCH robot, which has a compact size and modular payloads, helping it navigate complex geometries.
Gecko was co-founded by Loosararian and Troy Demmer, now the chief product officer. Loosararian started the company in 2013 and in 2016 joined efforts with Demmer. The company received $2.1 million in funding the same year.
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