Canada’s Ocean Supercluster announces $6.3M C-MASS Project – A Near-Real-Time Monitoring Solution for the Ocean’s Near Shore Zone
Today, alongside project partners, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster (OSC) announced the $6.3 million C-MASS project (Coastal Mapping/Monitoring via Autonomous Systems & Services). Using uncrewed autonomous vehicles, this project will develop a near-real-time monitoring solution for the ocean’s littoral (near shore) zone to deliver actionable data to marine industries.
Traditionally, monitoring and mapping programs are costly, limited, and rarely maintain current and relevant information. Critical coastal data often lacks necessary coverage and immediacy, especially in emergencies. It’s therefore difficult to plan, implement, and support marine operations. The C-MASS project will leverage partners’ existing products and capabilities to advance state-of-the-art capabilities in Geospatial Information Systems (GIS), Internet of Things (IoT), and Autonomous Uncrewed Systems (AUS) to collect and maintain actionable data for marine industries such as coastal defence; life sciences; nearshore aquaculture/shellfish harvesting; climate change monitoring; emergency and infrastructure planning/management; search and rescue; ports and shipping and more.
With a total project value of over $6.3 million, the OSC will provide $1.8 million in funding with the balance coming from project partners. The C-MASS Project is led by Mount Pearl, NL based Compusult Ltd. who’s working with Canadian partners StrobelTEK, Spiri Robotics, PicSea Canada Ltd., CogNova Technologies, and the Government of Nova Scotia as well as international partner, Resolve Robotics.
The data collected through the C-MASS project will improve evidence and awareness of coastal change and support decision-makers adaptation to a changing climate. This project is applicable to ocean communities around the world and can advance partner technologies global blue economy. C-MASS will create and maintain 10 full time jobs through its duration.
Media Contacts:
Nancy Andrews
Canada’s Ocean Supercluster
nancy.andrews@oceansupercluster.ca
709.725.7070
Michael Pickard
Compusult Limited
marketing@compusult.com
709-745-7914
Quotes:
“With support from Canada’s Ocean Cluster, this project will change how coastlines are mapped and what we know about the environment all thanks to near-real-time monitoring. This novel Canadian-made technology has the potential for many uses that can lead to improved living standards for ocean communities worldwide.” – Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
“The C-MASS project is an example of the power of the Global Innovation Clusters to bring partners together to solve big, challenging real-world problems. Gaining more accurate coastal data will bolster emergency responses and support day-to-day marine operations across a range of industries, from life sciences to search and rescue. We’re proud to support this project, not only for its economic impacts but also for the improved understanding it will provide about the impacts of climate change on our oceans and coasts.” – Joanne Thompson, Member of Parliament for St. John’s East
“The C-MASS project team is developing a solution to collect better data and monitor our coastlines so we can use near-real time information to make decisions for ocean operations, supporting both the productivity and the well-being of our ocean environment.” – Kendra MacDonald, CEO, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster
The monitoring and mapping of Canada’s coastal areas is extremely challenging: the environment is harsh and constantly changing. This is becoming an even higher priority for our country every day – for things like maritime border security, search and rescue, and environmental monitoring and mitigation. This project brings together technologies from a team of small, world-leading tech companies, which is led by Compusult. Together, we are designing a system unlike anything in the world right now, using well-developed GIS software, and a suite of robotic vehicles by air, land, and sea to visualize, monitor, and manage coastal zone data.” – Paul Mitten, Vice-President, Compusult
About OSC
Canada’s Ocean Supercluster is a pan-Canadian, industry-led transformative cluster focused on tackling some of the biggest challenges across ocean sectors through a collaborative program designed to accelerate the development and commercialization of globally relevant solutions, while also building a highly-capable, inclusive workforce. The OSC has approved 86 projects with a total value of more than $390 million which will deliver more than 120 new made-in-Canada ocean products, processes, and services to sell to the world.