A view of profits beneath surface

HOLDING WATER: Year-old Aquabotix specializes in marine technology, including the Hydro View. Pictured above, from left are: computer engineer Jacob Fernandes, computer engineer Brian Louro and President Durval Tavares. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY
HOLDING WATER: Year-old Aquabotix specializes in marine technology, including the Hydro View. Pictured above, from left are: computer engineer Jacob Fernandes, computer engineer Brian Louro and President Durval Tavares. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

Durval Tavares isn’t exactly reinventing the wheel, but in the world of marine technology he’s coming close and hopes his modification on underwater video equipment will receive the kind of innovation-inspired excitement from buyers that he has for his product.
Judging from early reactions, he’s succeeding.
“We’ve seen a lot of excitement for the product,” Tavares said. “Not only in the marine market, but also in government for homeland-defense issues. We’re reinventing what a ROV (remotely operated vehicle) is, to make it fun and affordable.”
Tavares is talking about the Hydro View, which his year-old company, Aquabotix, rolled out in April to early raves and international attention.
Hydro View is a remote-operated, underwater vehicle that streams high-definition video back to the water’s surface.
It is controlled via wireless communication from a user’s handheld device, such as an iPad, iPhone, Android phone or laptop computer.
It’s the second of two products Aquabotix has produced since Tavares’ dreams and ideas turned into the real deal.
A native of Portugal, he emigrated to the United States as a 10-year-old when his family resettled in Fall River. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 1981.
Tavares then entered into a 20-year post at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, leaving there to work in product development for Fidelity Investments.
After that, he went to work for the U.S. Navy building underwater vehicles until a lunch date with his friend George Dechambeau, a sailor, inspired a life change.
“[George] went around the world on his sailboat and said he wished he could see what was happening under his boat [and] that’s where we came up with the first two product ideas,” Tavares said. “I left the Navy [when] I had a vision. We wanted to help people visualize and experience the underwater world. I felt the best way to do that would be to create a product that would be reachable and affordable.”
Funding, he said, had to be drawn from his social circle – namely his friends and families. They, who remain co-owners as original investors, along with a loan from the Fall River Office of Economic Development, helped generate a little over $1 million in start up funds. They also wanted, Tavares said, a product that was “cool and fun.”
Enter the AquaLens, a portable underwater viewing system that Tavares describes as an entry-level product.
It’s a color video camera with LED lighting and a LCD monitor that attaches to a pole that the user can control to push underwater and receive instant images in return.
It can be used for safety issues, including checking a propeller and viewing the hull, for practical purposes such as searching for lost objects, and for entertainment, including viewing fish and other sea life.
It retails for $475. Tavares has sold the product in the United States, as well in Germany, Australia and Portugal.
The Hydro View, which looks something like a miniature jet engine with propellers, is being billed as Aquabotix’s flagship product.
“You drive the vehicle by using the iPad [or other device] and it has the ability to record video so it can be shared with your friends,” Tavares said.
Tavares said there has been interest from the commercial construction industry in using the Hydro View to monitor underwater construction. Boat inspectors and those in the fishing industry want to use it to watch underwater conditions, he said.
The tool also can be used to upload recorded images to social media sites and capture still shots.
Hydro View retails for $3,995, a fraction of the $15,000 to $20,000 similar tools can cost.
The Aquabotix business model, Tavares said, is designed around having a larger production volume of ROVs than other companies that only can produce a couple dozen per year because of the cost.
It also was designed to not require certification needed for actual vehicles and to be able to be controlled within a familiar tool set.
Aquabotix plans to upgrade Hydro View next year by adding robotic arms that could do things such as pick up dropped items from the sea floor. They also are committed to putting out a new product every year and donating 1 percent of their income to water-based conservation groups and education efforts.
“The more people who learn about the ocean, the more people who will love it,” •

COMPANY PROFILE
Aquabotix
OWNERS: Durval Tavares, Debra Tavares, Michael DeChambeau, Dawn Doraz
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Marine technology
LOCATION: Fall River, Mass.
EMPLOYEES: 16
YEAR ESTABLISHED: 2011
ANNUAL SALES: WND

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