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The U.S. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center has awarded Gecko Robotics an 18-month, $1.5 million contract by the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The contract will help within the Air Force’s efforts to modernize the legs of the U.S. nuclear triad.
As a part of the contract, Gecko Robotics will combine concrete analysis expertise into its fleet of crawling inspection robots. Gecko will mix {hardware} and software program elements to offer its robots the power to quickly assess concrete and metal liners in Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) launch amenities. These robots will assist the Air Force easily transition to the Sentinel program after which to a modernized sustainment program.
“Ensuring the safety and efficiency of our nation’s most critical assets is in our DNA at Gecko, and we look forward to our partnership with the Air Force in this vital mission,” Jake Loosararian, CEO and Co-founder of Gecko Robotics, mentioned. “I’m also proud of how our team and our product have risen to the challenge during this competitive process as we continue to increase our partnerships across the federal space.”
Gecko’s air drive contract was earned by a aggressive course of that concerned an preliminary proposal submission and peer evaluate course of, adopted by a evaluate from key stakeholders. Gecko Robotics was then invited to take part within the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center’s 2nd Pitch Day.
Gecko Robotics’ expertise is made for the ability technology, oil and fuel, heavy manufacturing and protection industries. Its TOKA Series robots, which incorporates the TOKA 3, TOKA 4, TOKA 4 GZ and TOKA Flex, are every designed to carry out below sure circumstances.
The TOKA 3, for instance, is healthier for inspections on medium-sized piping and high-temperature surfaces, whereas the TOKA 4 does higher with boiler partitions and curved surfaces. The TOKA 3 is ready to cowl 60 toes per minute, whereas the others within the collection can attain a prime velocity of 30 toes per minute.
Gecko was co-founded by Loosararian and Troy Demmer, now the chief product officer. Loosararian began the corporate in 2013 and in 2016 joined efforts with Demmer. The firm obtained $2.1 million in funding the identical 12 months.
More not too long ago, it introduced in $73 million in Series C funding in March. XN led the newest funding spherical. Founders Fund, XYZ, Drive Capital, Snowpoint Ventures, Joe Lonsdale, Mark Cuban, Gokul Rajaram and extra participated within the spherical.