On board the xNode Wave Energy Converter is a baseline ocean science sensor suite ensuring every mission maximizes data collection. (Image: Dolphin Labs)

Remote sensing offers a powerful tool for environmental protection and sustainable management. While many remote sensing companies use wind or solar energy to power their platforms, California-based startup Dolphin Labs is harnessing wave energy to enable sensing networks for enhanced maritime domain awareness, improving the safety and security of offshore natural resources and critical infrastructure.

Dolphin Labs was founded in 2022 as a spinoff of Cal Wave Power Technologies, which works on grid-scale renewable energy. “We are using a renewable energy source, which happens to have more energy density than either solar or wind, or solar or wind combined, so we can support larger or more power-hungry sensors in places where they can’t currently be operated for extended periods of time,” said Chris Rauch, Chief Product Officer at Dolphin Labs.

Rauch, who has decades of marine technology experience, highlighted that typically solar and wind combined yield 50 watts of power. “Our device in the same size footprint can get a couple of hundred watts to one kilowatt of power. With extra power, we can use edge computing and process data right onboard the buoy. The value in that is now instead of sending back gigabytes or terabytes of data, we can process the data and only send back the data of interest. We use a lot less power and a lot less bandwidth,” he added.

The company’s xNode Wave Energy Converter is a resilient ocean-observing platform with built-in renewable power generation. On board the converter is a baseline ocean science sensor suite ensuring every mission maximizes data collection. In the open ocean, the xNode can accommodate any third-party scientific payload — for instance, to complement a fleet of oceanographic profilers, acoustically monitor fish stocks and maritime mammals, or measure carbon dioxide above and below the sea surface.

“One of the unique things of our application,” said Rauch, “is we can operate on the surface or submerged.” Most wave energy converters must be designed for worst-case scenarios, such as a 100-year storm or 100-meter waves. The platform deals with that by submerging. It’s lightweight and low-cost hull is durable, capable of surviving a vessel strike and resilient for storm survivability.

Although their primary market is defense, the xNode is sensor agnostic, meaning it doesn’t care what sensors are on it as long as the power that’s supplied can support them, said Rauch. “Every end user is going to have a different set of data that they're interested in. We can incorporate whatever sensors are needed for a mission, whether that’s a defense-related mission, or it could be offshore oil and gas.”

The team also leverages AI for data processing. “Because we have enough power, we can do edge computing on board. Having the ability to know what data is actually of interest and only sending back the data of interest and not sending back massive data sets, that’s where we are leveraging AI on the platform,” said Rauch.

Currently, the team is actively working on their first prototype. “We are in the process of ordering equipment to put together test facilities, as optimizing this equipment is really important. At the same time, we are also moving into designing the whole structure and prototyping and putting that together, with the goal of being in the water by the third quarter of 2025,” he said.

The Dolphin Labs team is moving forward toward that singular goal of a sea trial this year, with support from incubators. It is one of 10 companies selected for the NATO-led Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) program, with individualized growth support, access to investor and mentor advice, and networking with potential defense and commercial customers. In February 2025, it also joined the Blue Action Accelerator, which invests in promising startups, addressing challenges around the blue economy and climate.

“We now have access to do testing in the Bahamas,” said Rauch, who appreciates the support Dolphin Labs is receiving from these incubator programs, enabling connections with like-minded people who are interested in helping the technology move forward.

This article was written by Chitra Sethi, Editorial Director, SAE Media Group. For more information, visit here  .

Topics:
Data Acquisition Energy Power Sensors Software

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