SYNTHETIK APPLIED TECHNOLOGIES LLC — Department of Commerce SBIR Phase II: 8.3.2

Description

Marine life entanglement is one of the critical permitting issues that is currently constraining the growth of domestic offshore aquaculture. Synthetik Applied Technologies is proposing to develop a low-cost entanglement detection system for offshore aquaculture operators. The system will use a combination of near real-time satellite imagery, intelligent on-site cameras (both above and below the water line), and acoustic sensors. Our technology – called DeepSeaVision-AI – will be offered as a low-cost subscription service to operators and will reduce investment and operating risks associated with offshore aquaculture. Our project team has been developing Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning models for DARPA and the Department of Defense for nearly a decade and this experience and technology has been leveraged during the conduct of the Phase I work for NOAA, where we demonstrated system feasibility. Moving to Phase II, we are excited about the potential to develop a ‘NOAA-approved’ and permit-ready monitoring system, and we plan to leverage the permitted offshore aquaculture sites operated by our teaming partners at the University of New Hampshire (fin-fish nets), and Salem State University (mussel long lines) as initial deployment examples.