PSNS & IMF, Sarcos Robotics and the US Navy partner for shipyard development.

In a first-of-its-kind collaboration involving a United States Navy shipyard, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility and Sarcos Robotics will jointly develop robotic technologies, including full-body powered exoskeletons, for use in naval shipyards, the two entities jointly announced.

Sarcos exoskeleton prototype (Picture source : Sarcos)

Under the terms of a cooperative research and development agreement, or CRADA, PSNS & IMF and Sarcos will collaborate on technology development to assist shipyard workers in unstructured, ergonomically challenging work environments, such as confined spaces or when power tools or heavy lifting is required.

The collaboration was organized through the PSNS & IMF Technology Transfer Program, which helps link federal research and development with academic institutions and businesses in the private sector. A CRADA provides the formal mechanism between the federal laboratory and partner collaborator. PSNS & IMF received the designation as a technology transfer laboratory in June 2017 from the Office of Naval Research. The laboratory status enables the shipyard to enter into innovative partnership agreements to accelerate the access to critical technologies.