Reach Robotics

Reach Robotics, a leading innovator in remote intervention for harsh environments, has delivered a breakthrough in underwater manipulator technology for portable Remotely Operated Vehicles with the launch of the Reach X Advanced Intervention System. “It’s a leap in what is possible for humans to achieve with remote underwater systems,” said Co-Founder and former CEO Paul Phillips. Hannah Barnett and Colin Chinery report.

Underwater robotics is booming: a niche sector that makes dangerous subsea exploration safer, cheaper and more accessible is set to hit a US $6.74 billion market valuation by next year – up US $3b on the 2020 figure.

Technologies pioneered in the defence sector and honed by the oil and gas industry are today being applied in offshore wind and renewable energy. This is a curve that has seen Reach Robotics grow impressively since its founding by university friends and engineers Paul Phillips and Mark Sproule.

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Mission critical

Sydney-based Reach Robotics creates tough, durable, advanced manipulation and perception systems, enabling clients in mission-critical defence and commercial sectors to extend human reach into harsh environments.

The latest system – launched recently following five years of collaboration with the Australian and US Defence Departments – is the Reach X Advanced Intervention System (RX-AIS). The world’s most compact, versatile and power-dense manipulator

system for expeditionary underwater vehicles, it revolutionises subsea operations by enabling portable ROVs to carry out tasks previously reserved for human divers.

“The RX-AIS represents a leap in what is possible for humans to achieve with remote underwater systems,” said Co-Founder and former CEO Paul Phillips.

Despite robotics making impressive advances, divers must still venture into high-risk situations to deal with various underwater threats. Reach X is now positioned as part of the solution, multiplying

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the capability of a standard observation ROV by enabling complex human-like intervention and inspection.

“We created the Reach X to provide a useful step-change in capability for clearance diving and mine warfare operators,” Mr Phillips explained.

Since its initial release, the Reach X has also proven to be a highly capable system for inspection, maintenance and repair activity, servicing the offshore energy and commercial sectors. This is due to it being a versatile, high-power and light-weight solution that improves logistics and lowers costs associated with offshore asset integrity management.

Track record

Present within the design of any Reach Robotics product is the expertise gained from seven years of innovation and realworld deployments in the defence and offshore energy sectors. Reach X draws on a track record of manufacturing excellence that comes from building, testing and selling 1,000 systems.

“We operate in both the defence and commercial sectors and have grown from strength to strength, thanks to the trust of our key customers,” said Mr Phillips. “As we grew, we were successful in securing

a couple of key Australian Government grants that gave us the necessary funding to build a highly specialised team. This sped up the development process and allowed us to start fleshing out the business in terms of sales, marketing and engineering.”

On the map

It was back in 2016 that the two Founders conceived, built, tested and sold their first robotic actuators from a desk in the corner of a co-working space in Sydney. “We set out to make the smallest, all-electric underwater robotic arms in the world and we

succeeded,” Mr Phillips explained. “With the release of our first underwater actuator, we were on the map.

“It started off the back of a few key customers showing a lot of trust and confidence in us from a very early stage. Growing very organically, we would build a product, sell it, then use the revenue to continue the development of the system.”

From the starting blocks, business moved fast. 2018 saw the release of Alpha 5, at the time the most dexterous underwater manipulation system. Intuitive remote operation followed a year later with Master Arm technology -135 units selling into 11 countries – and in 2020 came Reach Bravo, a bigger, smarter and more capable manipulator disrupting the remote inspection and intervention landscape.

Soon a business that started in a corner space moved to a 700 sqm facility to accommodate a growing team and a product

line then selling more than 450 units. Additional funding from the Australian Government followed.

Global support

Since then, the company has grown to over 50 staff with a global sales and support footprint – with established units in the UK and USA - a strong research and development capability, plus an impressive line of breakthrough subsea robotics.

Becoming part of the General Oceans group of companies two years ago was another milestone, according to Mr Phillips: “Joining General Oceans has certainly offered us a lot of business and industry advice and support in the way more mature companies are operating.”

Launched as Blueprint Lab, the business undertook a name change to Reach Robotics two years ago to provide greater clarity to the market about the company’s core technologies and vision.

“We continue to provide best-in-class underwater intervention systems and unparalleled support to our global oceanic community.” Mr Phillips said.

Specialists and pacesetters

With 95% of products exported and a number of components coming from abroad, Australia’s relative remoteness has given a more than usual emphasis on building strong personal face-to-face relationships with suppliers.

“A lot of mechanical parts are extremely complicated to machine and so we work very closely with suppliers,” said Mr Phillips. “We specialise in subsea manipulators whereas other companies may develop manipulators, ROVs and other products. So, we’ve been able to take the technology further than anyone else and we hope to continue to do so.

“We develop a lot of hardware in-house and build very complicated mechanical

assemblies. All the theory in the world only gets you so far when it comes to putting these kinds of things together.”

Unsurprisingly, AI is at the forefront of technology and the development of robots with the ability to form their intelligence, learn from their environment and perform tasks semi-autonomously. “Autonomy is certainly a big, big trend in robotics and AI will play a huge role in this,” explained Mr Phillips. “Mobile, selfgoverning robots are something we are exploring in future developments.”

“It has been a journey,” said Mr Phillips, in conclusion. “We are a business that has grown very quickly and there’s lots of exciting, world-first developments happening in our R&D department. We’re looking forward to continuing to push the envelope of human reach into harsh, underwater environments.” n