C Robotics new ROVs aim to increase efficiency of shellfish harvesting and aquaculture maintenance

Kristiansund, Norway-based C Robotics is working to transform shellfish harvesting and aquaculture operations through a line of underwater remote operated vehicles (ROVs).

The company, formed in 2017 by a group of professionals who have extensive experience in the subsea oil and gas, maritime, and fishing industries, has dubbed its most recent ROV the BabyBud. The underwater ROV is intended to clean fish cages after harvesting, among other tasks.

The company also has two other vacuum harvesting ROVs in its lineup: the C Disc and the C bud, both of which are undergoing extensive customer trials.

What differentiates the BabyBud from the others in the C Robotics lineup is its effective cleaning abilities, which ensure that fishing activities using the latest ROV contribute toward the company’s overarching goal of attaining a “sustainable and ethical future” in the marine harvesting industry.

“The customer needed an efficient solution to replace divers for collecting dead fish from their fish cages,” CEO Rune Svendsen told SeafoodSource. “The BabyBud is now at work removing dead fish inside customers’ cages by operators following the [process] via a video feed on a screen in an operating room.”

The device is also suitable for seabed cleaning tasks, gentle harvesting of minor bivalves, and monitoring and documentation duties. The size of the custom-built unit is scalable to a customer’s preferences – within reasonable limits – but a typical BabyBud is 100 centimeters wide, 100 centimeters deep, and 60 centimeters high.

The C Disc, meanwhile, is a submersible suction device with an …

Image courtesy of C Robotics