New Application for Underwater Manipulator Arms

BluHaptics, the software company pioneering new solutions for telerobotics, has secured $1.36 million in Series A financing. This investment follows more than a million dollars in recent U.S. government grants, which together will be used to support the company’s expansion and launch of its first commercially available product.

Seattle Angel Fund, a member-directed investment fund focusing on early-stage, growth-oriented businesses in the Pacific Northwest, led the round with participation from Seattle’s Alliance of Angels.

“We are as excited about the management team they have put in place as we are about their groundbreaking technology,” said Susan Preston, managing member of the Seattle Angel Fund. “We believe BluHaptics is well poised to transform the telerobotics market.”

BluHaptics’ scientists have integrated advanced applications of three core technologies – real-time modeling, machine learning and haptic feedback – to create the next generation of software for telerobotics. Featuring a more user-friendly, visual interface, this new system makes it significantly easier for operators to interact with and control remote robots in often dangerous and unpredictable environments.

“We are meeting with companies in the subsea and space sectors who are particularly impressed with the ease and precision our interactive software brings to mission-critical tasks,” explains BluHaptics CEO Don Pickering. “Whether robots are working deep in the ocean on an oil rig or in space to maintain satellites, our software is extending the reach of what robotics can achieve while at the same time enhancing productivity and safety.”

The robotics market is poised for significant growth, with International Data Corporation anticipating worldwide spending on robotics and related services to hit $135.4 billion in 2019, up from an estimated $71 billion in global robotics spending in 2015.

Early research and development for BluHaptics technology was supported in part by CoMotion, the University of Washington’s collaborative innovation hub. The company has since moved to new offices in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood, with an expanded robotics laboratory, and hired additional software developers and business development professionals.

The full release of BluHaptics’ new application for underwater manipulator arms is scheduled for summer 2017.