Employee Spotlight: Jamie Bell, ROV Robotics

, 19 Jan 2022

Boxfish R&D is always up for a challenge! Having launched the ARV-i in partnership with Transmark Subsea in 2021, they’re continuing to develop state-of-the-art autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) technology.

Lead R&D ROV Robotics Engineer, Jamie Bell, is a vital member of this team. So in our first employee spotlight of 2022, we’re discussing AUV’s, ROV robotics and future tech with him.

Jamie has a background in autonomous navigation, robotic manipulation and multi-modal sensing. His previous experience includes creating driverless vehicles, fruit harvesting robots and an underwater sensor system. 

Employee Spotlight – Jamie Bell, Lead R&D Robotics Engineer
Jamie Bell, Lead R&D Robotics Engineer testing Boxfish Luna in the pool - ROV Robotics
Jamie testing Boxfish Luna in the pool
Jamie presenting at Friday Talks – a regular event encouraging staff to share their experience and expertise with colleagues
Render of ARV-i in operation
Render of ARV-i in operation underwater, a fully autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) developed in partnership with Transmark Subsea

Interview with Jamie Bell, ROV Robotics

What interests you about this autonomous navigation and ROV robotics engineering?

I originally became interested in robotics 20 odd years ago, waiting for the bus year after year and thinking there’s got to be a better way. That got me into autonomous navigation, which I’ve been working on for most of my career.

How do you and the Boxfish team working on AUVs approach the technical challenge of autonomy?

The approach to autonomous navigation at Boxfish is ambitious and cutting edge. We are taking the most up to date methods and applying them in difficult conditions. It is hard to get more challenging than underwater for autonomous navigation. Furthermore, the pipeline of problems that we’re looking to solve is very exciting, and people will be surprised when they see what we can do.

What future possibilities and applications do you see for AUV?

I think the use of AUVs will continue to expand to assist with the management and maintenance of all subsea infrastructure. Fleets of AUVs will do more and more useful work across all underwater industries.

Thanks, Jamie, for all your hard work and dedication. 

We love having you as part of the Boxfish team.