L&T Defence, an arm of L&T, will manufacture and commercialise the unmanned remote operating vehicle (ROV) that can scan the sea surface in both shallow and deep waters. The company will get the technology from the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai. Facilitating this is a tripartite agreement signed between NIOT, under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), the NRDC, a corporation promoting indigenous technology transfer, and L&T.
The ROVs developed over the years and field-tested by the NIOT can operate up to depths of 500 metres in shallow waters and 6,000 metres in deep waters. They can be useful in generating images and data that find wide application in both civilian and military fields.
An MoU for the ROV was signed by M Purushotham, CMD of NRDC, S Ranganathan, Vice-President, L&T Defence, and M. A. Atmanand, Director, NIOT, in the presence of M Rajeevan, Secretary, Dept of Earth Sciences, in Hyderabad.
Robo Coastal Observer
Another MoU signed on the occasion was for the Robo Coastal Observer (RCO). The Bangalore-based CT Control Technology India Pvt Ltd will manufacture the RCO based on technology transfer from NIOT. The RCO is useful in collection of data in coastal and deep waters. It can also be programmed for autonomous data collection with the help of an on-board GPS module.
The low-cost buoyant apparatus developed by NIOT can be deployed in water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and coastal areas. It is equipped with sensors for ocean data collection with cameras.
The technology will be licensed for 10 years. It will be non-exclusive, with recurring royalty and a lump-sum technology transfer fee, said Purushotham. The MoU was signed by him with NIOT and CT Control’s R Sumanth, Director, Projects & Systems.