Lobster Robotics

Lobster Robotics is a Netherlands company working on optical seabed mapping, based in The Hague. It describes its purpose as engineering the systems people need to understand the ocean floor, to explore, monitor and protect it, and frames the problem it exists to solve as a supply bottleneck: the industry needs more seabed data, faster and to a higher standard, but specialist underwater survey crews are a persistent constraint. By its own count the company has logged over 1,200 hours in the water, surveyed 340 km and deployed in 8 countries, across both civilian and military applications. Its system is the Scout, supplied with a transport case and support kit. The company gives its total weight as 46 kg and calls it hand portable, with 12 hours per charge, 15 minutes to deployment and 5 to 10 minutes to result. The Scout runs a fixed spatial mission plan autonomously on a pre-set track at consistent altitude, speed and lighting, at a stated mapping rate of 1,000 to 6,000 m per hour. What comes out is a georeferenced optical mosaic and georeferenced 3D output in GeoTIFF, natively compatible with GIS platforms and standard analysis pipelines, and repeatable year over year to metre-level accuracy so that surveys from different dates align automatically. Three use cases are set out. For marine research, the Scout is offered as a way to run large-area, repeatable benthic surveys from a small vessel or from shore rather than mobilising a large vessel and work-class ROV spread, deploying from shore, a RHIB, a Zodiac or research vessels fitted with a crane or A-frame. For environmental consenting, the emphasis falls on consistency of acquisition, since AI-assisted habitat classification, change detection and trend analysis are only as reliable as the data going in. For seabed infrastructure inspection of pipelines, cable routes and scour protection, the Scout ships by standard air and road cargo and deploys from a vessel of opportunity or crew transfer vessel with two operators drawn from the existing crew. Commercially the Scout can be rented daily, weekly, monthly, or on an extended basis for programmes of 90 days or more, or bought outright with support equipment and an annual service package. Rentals come with the Scout in a shipping box, optional remote support during business hours and a Lobster-certified operator, with custom integration into the client workflow on longer bookings. A purchase covers commissioning items such as the operator tablet and comms gateway, Lobster charger, field repair kit, training for up to 6 people at Lobster HQ and mobilisation support, then operations items including a software license subscription with updates, annual factory maintenance, and spare parts and repair service, plus trade-in credit toward the latest model. An early adopter programme develops new capabilities with clients who get direct input on specifications and early access. Lobster Robotics is a registered trade name of Lobster Innovations B.V.