ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND – 30 MARCH 2020 /GLOBE NEWSWIRE/ – Kraken Robotics Inc. (TSX-V: PNG) (OTCQB: KRKNF) (“Kraken” or the “Company”), is pleased to announce that the Company is the first to achieve a practical resolution of 2 cm with a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS), Kraken’s AquaPix® MINSAS.

Karl Kenny, Kraken’s President & CEO said, “For demanding subsea survey missions in mine countermeasures, infrastructure monitoring and oil & gas exploration; data quality is of the essence.  The sensor that gets the job done most effectively is one that combines Ultra High Definition (Ultra HD) imagery with an extremely high area coverage rate.  Kraken’s latest development, the next generation AquaPix® Ultra HD processing software, has been designed to advance the state-of-the-art in seabed mapping for both high-speed towed systems and Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs).”

Kraken’s Ultra HD software improves the AquaPix® SAS image resolution from 3.0 x 3.3 cm (across along track) to an industry-leading 1.9 x 2.1 cm and maintains constant Ultra HD resolution across the entire swath. Compared to conventional SAS processing, the incredibly high pixel density of Kraken’s Ultra HD sonar imagery sets a new standard for seabed image quality, using Kraken’s advanced image processing techniques to extract all the available information from sonar echoes.

Unlike other SAS manufacturers that quote theoretical numbers for resolution, Kraken measures resolution in real-world conditions using a data-driven technique, developed by Kraken’s team of world-leading sonar scientists and published at an international ocean technology conference (Reference 1). The measured resolution of 1.9 x 2.1 cm includes effects such as aperture shading to reduce sidelobes, UUV nonlinear motion, and acoustic propagation in the ocean environment.

In mine warfare, it is well known that the probability of detecting and classifying a target increases with improving image resolution. A similar principle applies for commercial seabed survey operations, where clear imagery is needed to show the health and integrity of subsea assets.  Seabed mapping technologies are only effective when the resolution of the data being collected satisfies the objectives of the mission.  Using lower resolution sonars, customers require multiples passes to detect and classify an object with confidence, reducing the effective rate of area coverage.  Using Kraken’s AquaPixâ Ultra HD software , with its combination of speed, range, and resolution, customers can achieve the world’s highest resolution COTS SAS imagery, mapping the seabed in exceptional contrast, clarity and detail when every second counts.

AquaPix® MINSAS with Ultra HD software is now available and ready for integration on a wide variety of UUV platforms. For more information, please contact sales@krakenrobotics.com.

 

REFERENCES

  • Dillon and R. Charron, “Resolution Measurement for Synthetic Aperture Sonar”, in Proc. MTS/IEEE OCEANS Conference, Seattle, WA, USA (2019). Click here to view conference paper.

 

ABOUT KRAKEN ROBOTICS INC.

Kraken Robotics Inc. (TSX.V:PNG) (OTCQB: KRKNF) is a marine technology company that is dedicated to the production and sale of software-centric sensors, subsea batteries and thrusters, and underwater robotic systems. The company is headquartered in St. John’s, Newfoundland with offices in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia; Toronto, Ontario; Bremen and Rostock Germany; and Boston, Massachusetts. Kraken is ranked as a Top 100 marine technology company by Marine Technology Reporter and is ranked as a top technology company on the TSX-V for 2020. For more information, please visit www.krakenrobotics.com, www.krakenrobotik.de, www.krakenpower.de. Find us on social media on Twitter (@krakenrobotics), Facebook (@krakenroboticsinc) and LinkedIn.

Certain information in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements. When used in this news release, the words “may”, “would”, “could”, “will”, “intend”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “seek”, “propose”, “estimate”, “expect”, and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking statements with respect to, among other things, business objectives, expected growth, results of operations, performance, business projects and opportunities and financial results. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the Company’s current views with respect to future events based on certain material factors and assumptions and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, changes in market, competition, governmental or regulatory developments, general economic conditions and other factors set out in the Company’s public disclosure documents. Many factors could cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements to vary from those described in this news release, including without limitation those listed above. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in this news release and such forward-looking statements included in, or incorporated by reference in this news release, should not be unduly relied upon. Such statements speak only as of the date of this news release. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Services Provide (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release, and the OTCQB has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

 

For further information, please contact:

Joe MacKay, Chief Financial Officer

(416) 303-0605

jmackay@krakenrobotics.com

 

Greg Reid, Chief Operating Officer

(416) 818-9822

greid@krakenrobotics.com

 

Sean Peasgood, Investor Relations

(647) 955-1274

sean@sophiccapital.com

 

Shauna Cotie, Marketing Manager

(709) 757-5757 extension 241

scotie@krakenrobotics.com