A Pittsburgh-based robotics firm will see its tech deployed on several U.S. Navy warships as part of an expanded partnership to improve various inspection metrics for the military.
Gecko Robotics Inc., headquartered out of the Nova Place complex in the city's North Side, announced that it will conduct advanced robotic assessments designed for some of the Navy's amphibious assault ships and an Arleigh Burke Class destroyer. The robots will be tasked with climbing on board these ships to map and build digital models that will then aid the Navy in increasing the speed of its maintenance cycles and reduce the time these ships spend in a drydock.
Gecko did not disclose the monetary value of the expanded partnership.
As part of the announcement, Gecko cited a recently published report sponsored by the Department of Defense that reportedly found that Gecko's tech "achieved exceptional success by using a [robot] to inspect Naval assets." That report also noted the significance of the fidelity behind Gecko's robotic platform, which captured 4.2 million data points on an undisclosed Navy asset. Previously, the Navy was only able to garner 100 data points using its traditional methods of inspection on this asset. Gecko also successfully cut the lead time needed for a rudder inspection from 11 days down to one compared to traditional methods, according to the report.
"We are proud to have a mature technology that has been tested and approved by both Navy technical leaders and the sustainment officials charged with reducing the Navy's maintenance backlog," Jake Loosararian, CEO and co-founder of Gecko, said in a press release. "The sailors of the U.S. Navy have a vital mission in an increasingly complicated geopolitical environment and Gecko stands with them to make sure they have the tools they need to do their jobs safely and effectively."
Gecko's latest partnership with the Navy builds on its growing military deals and connections.
In November 2022, the company landed a $1.5 million contract with the U.S. Air Force that is now seeing its infrastructure-scaling robots deployed at Air Force Intercontinental Ballistic Missile launch facilities. And this past February, Gecko was one of about a dozen local companies that partook in the Defense Robotics and Intelligence Systems Coalition, which the Pittsburgh Technology Council organized as part of a group that went to Washington, D.C., to meet with various political officials for the advocacy of the region's growing robotics and technical prowess.
In March 2022, Gecko announced the close of a $73 million Series C funding round, one of the largest for a Pittsburgh company in 2022, which brought its total funding to date to $122 million since its founding in 2013 by Loosararian and Chief Product Officer Troy Demmer. The company employs about 200 workers, most of whom are based out of Pittsburgh though it also has offices across the U.S. and one in Europe.
