Ocean Power Technologies a founding member of new robotics and autonomous systems consortium

Ocean Power Technologies Inc (NYSE-A:OPTT) is a founding member of a new consortium led by drone maker Red Cat which aims to address critical technology gaps for warfighters.

Launched on Monday, the Red Cat Futures Initiative (RFI) is a consortium of robotics and autonomous systems partners committed to providing warfighters with the most advanced and interoperable uncrewed aircraft systems.

The consortium brings together leading unnamed aerial systems hardware and software companies focused on AI, machine learning, first-person view, command and control, and payloads, Red Cat highlighted. 

Along with maritime solutions and services provider Ocean Power Technologies, other founding members of the group include Sentien Robotics, Primordial Labs, Athena AI, Unusual Machines, Reach Power and MMS Products.

This comes after Ocean Power Technologies last month announced it had entered into a strategic alliance with Red Cat to integrate Red Cat’s Teal Drones with its PowerBuoy and WAM-V platforms.

“With Teal as a hub, we’ve already built a robust ecosystem of partners that specialize in AI and computer vision applications, 3D mapping, target acquisition, swarming, and other sUAS decision support features,” Red Cat director of special programs Jason Gunter commented.

“The RFI formalizes this but is also a launchpad for co-marketing, tech collaboration, and grassroots advocacy.”

The consortium was developed by Red Cat to support the US Pentagon’s Replicator initiative and the need for autonomous systems across air, land and sea.

Members will collaborate to ensure requirements-based unmanned aerial systems production for specific missions and to reduce vendor lock-in and promote interoperability, the company said. 

“The needs of warfighters have shifted dramatically over the past several years, and the key to bridge technology gaps and accelerate maturation is co-innovation amongst hardware and software companies that span the entire value chain,” Red Cat CEO Jeff Thompson commented.

“The RFI will spearhead this mission and be a central place to showcase new capabilities and industry voices.”