Bluefin Robotics announces acquisition of Heriot-Watt University spin-out SeeByte.

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) manufacturer Bluefin has acquired Heriot-Watt University spin-out SeeByte, a developer of autonomous platform software.

Owned by science and technology organisation Battelle, Bluefin’s acquisition builds on a long-standing partnership with Edinburgh-based SeeByte. The two companies will offer a complete range of unmanned and remote-operated surface and underwater vehicles.

SeeByte will continue to provide its software products to clients across a number of market sectors, specifically oil, gas, and defence.

David Kelly, chief executive of Bluefin Robotics, said: “Bluefin and SeeByte have worked together for more than five years developing software and capabilities for Bluefin platforms like the Hovering Autonomous Underwater Vehicle and Bluefin-21. Bringing these two companies together will allow us to bring integrated expertise in vehicle control, low-level vehicle to high-level mission autonomy, sensor processing, operator interface, and power subsystems to our customers.”