The Ritz Herald
The Sofar Strider autonomous surface vehicle ventures towards the Bay Bridge in the San Francisco Bay

Sofar Ocean’s new autonomous surface vehicle makes data collection of coastal and inland waters easy and affordable


Sofar Ocean's mission is to advance ocean understanding and awareness by providing critical data for industry, governments, conservation, and ocean enthusiasts

Published on October 30, 2019

Sofar Ocean Technologies, the leading manufacturer of ocean drones and sensors, launches Strider, an autonomous surface vehicle designed to make ocean data collection more accessible.

Sofar Strider is designed for operations in coastal, near-shore and inland waters. It combines autonomous navigation, solar power, and a modular design to enable it to operate autonomously or remote-controlled through the internet while integrating with a wide range of sensors. In addition to supporting customizable payloads, Strider collects real-time video from above and below the waterline. An initial list of Strider sensor integrations and product specifications can be found at sofarocean.com/products/strider-data

“Strider is a revolutionary development in distributed autonomous ocean vehicles,” said Tim Janssen, Sofar Co-Founder and CEO. “Our goal is to enable a rapid increase in data density in critical regions of our global ocean and along our coastlines. Strider is an important step toward that goal. It combines a unique focus on autonomy, modularity, and scalability that provides unprecedented flexibility, affordability, and ease-of-use to marine data collection. ”

Strider will be available for “mission days”, where a Sofar technician will manage deployment and data collection for customer-defined needs, beginning in December. Pricing for mission days starts at $500 per day, with a minimum of one day of operation.

Strider will also be available for pre-order purchase at a price of $4,500 with delivery scheduled for Summer 2020.

SOURCE Sofar Ocean Technologies
Staff Writer