Navy partners with Salt Lake City’s Sarcos Robotics for full-body & inspection robots

Salt Lake City’s Sarcos Robotics, a global robotics systems developer, has signed a partnership agreement with the U.S. Navy’s Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (IMF) to evaluate and deploy robotic technologies, including full-body, powered exoskeletons and man-portable inspection robots for use in naval shipyards.

“Sarcos is revolutionizing the robotics industry and redefining the workforce of the future by developing robots that enhance human productivity, while increasing worker safety,” said Ben Wolff, chairman and CEO of Sarcos. “We look forward to partnering with the Navy to evaluate and deploy our advanced robotic systems to meet the needs of the Navy’s vision for the shipyard of the future.”

Founded by Stephen Jacobsen in 1983, Sarcos’ stated goal is to develop robotic systems that augment rather than replace humans working in the industrial, public safety and military sectors. The company employs about 100 in its Salt Lake City operation. The company also maintains an office in Seattle.

Under the terms of the agreement, Sarcos and the Navy will evaluate Sarcos’ Guardian XO battery-powered, full-body exoskeleton as well as its Guardian S inspection robot for use across a variety of unstructured, challenging work environments and tasks in the naval environment. Areas of initial focus will be manipulation of heavy items, use of power tools and inspection of confined spaces, all of which are intended to support the maintenance, modernization and retirement of ships and submarines, enabling workers to get their jobs done more safely, faster and more cost-effectively, the company said.

“This partnership provides an exciting opportunity for the shipyard to develop innovative solutions to improve our work while providing a safer, more ergonomic work environment for our employees,” said Capt. Howard Markle, commander of PSNS and IMF where more than 14,000 sailors and civilian personnel work to maintain, modernize and retire the U.S. Navy’s fleet.

The collaboration with the Navy follows Sarcos’ recent announcement regarding its collaboration with the U.S. Air Force regarding its Guardian XO exoskeleton robot. Sarcos’ Guardian XO is the world’s first full-body, powered industrial exoskeleton capable of enabling a human operator to safely lift and manipulate up to 200 pounds for extended work sessions. Sarcos plans to begin shipping Guardian XO to customers in 2020. Additional exploration for applications suited for the Guardian S robotic mobile platform, aimed to improve worker safety and enhance efficiency by providing inspection and surveillance capabilities in challenging environments, will also be pursued as part of the collaboration.