A joint laboratory with the Andromède Océanologie firm (LabCom “Air to Sea”) was set up in 2017 with the aim of developing an automated system for very high resolution and 3D mapping of shallow coastal seabeds to enable accurate monitoring of sensitive ecosystems such as Posidonia meadows and coralligenous habitats in these coastal areas. Meanwhile, the team has also developed an innovative, silent nautical electric prototype vehicle, while a drone version of this so-called “overboat” has also been designed for monitoring and observation operations. Three patents have been filed as part of this project, which was the focus of a French industrial innovation programme (2017-2019) financed by SATT-AxLR, in turn leading to the launch of the NEOCEAN start-up in 2020.
