Hullbot Underwater Robot Operator

Timeline: February 2025 - May 2025
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA
Skills: Operations

Hullbot is a robotics startup based in Sydney, Australia with a mission of decarbonizing the global maritime industry by addressing three areas: carbon emissions, microplastics & toxic paints, biosecurity.

I support biweekly cleans of the SF Bay Ferries to reduce the biofouling on the hulls, thereby saving fuel and reducing emissions.

The ferry structure consists of 2 keels and for each clean two operations work on opposite sides of the hull (port & starboard) effectively.

This is the view from the bow of the ferry. Operations originating from here allow cleans until the midship due to the length of the tether

To clean the sections between the midship and the stern (including the fins) the robot is operated at a different location.

The setup usually involves the hullbot robot, the tether spool, an underwater pressure tester, and a computer that relays the camera & positioning data to the operator. The robots have depth, cruise, and hull-hold control capabilities which simplify the teleoperation process. This is particularly important in challenging conditions with vortices and reduced depth visibility

Operational Setup

Working with my co-operator as the "port-side" team for one of the cleans!

​Hullbot