PROVIDENCE –FarSounder, winner of the 2002 Rhode Island Business Plan Competition, has been issued a U.S. patent for its award winning 3D Forward Looking Sonar Technology, the Business Plan Competition today announced.
It is the second U.S. patent this year for the technology, which has the potential to save mariners billions of dollars in damage by averting groundings.
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“The FarSounder development team is excited about our latest patent issued,” said Matthew J. Zimmerman, company founder and vice president of engineering. “This latest patent covers various aspects of our software processing technology.”
FarSounder bested more than 80 competitors in the second Rhode Island Business Plan Competition, in 2002, to win a $50,000 cash prize. Competition co-chair Garrett B. Hunter, president of the Business Development Company of Rhode Island, said at the time: “The judges selected FarSounder as the winner because it has demonstrated its technology, has a paying customer, has carefully targeted markets to sell into, and has a well thought-out plan backed by a strong team.”
The company’s technology makes it possible to image rocks, sea floors, whales and other in-water obstacles much as traditional radar detects obstacles above water. It is based on research begun at the University of Rhode Island’s Department of Ocean Engineering and Ocean Technology Center, with assistance from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center.
FarSounder Inc. (www.farsounder.com) was incorporated in 2001 to bring this new technology to market. Its first commercial product – the FarSounder FS-3 sonar, used on commercial and private ships with obstacle avoidance and shallow-water navigation – is capable of generating a complete 3-dimensional image of the sea floor and in-water objects at navigationally significant ranges with a single ping. The company is working on a Phase II SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) program for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The Rhode Island Business Plan Competition, a nonprofit organization that seeks to promote entrepreneurship and the development of start-up and early stage companies in Rhode Island, is supported by 24 local organizations, including public and private companies, universities and colleges, and public agencies. Further information, including competition rules, application procedures and guidelines, and business plan resources, is available at www.ri-bizplan.com.
