BeeX Autonomous Underwater Drones & Sambal Suite

BeeX is a Singapore company founded in 2018 by NUS alumni Grace Chia (CEO) and Goh Eng Wei (CTO) that designs, deploys and operates fully autonomous underwater drones. It replaces costly inspections that rely on tethered work-class ROVs, large DP2 vessels and divers in offshore energy, coastal infrastructure and defence.

The fleet includes A.IKANBILIS and ALPHA inspection drones rated to 150 m and 300 m with hot-swappable 1 kWh batteries, the larger BETTA for long-endurance inspection and light intervention with a 12 kWh battery, and CASPER, an expendable swarm-capable drone for mine countermeasures. The proprietary Sambal Suite combines Sambal OS onboard autonomy with sensor fusion and station-keeping, Sambal UI for mission control and Sambal Portal for geo-referenced reports with AI-flagged anomalies. Drones have been procured by Singapore's Ministry of Defence.

• A.IKANBILIS: 60 kg inspection drone with a 7-sensor perception and positioning suite, rated to 150 m.
• ALPHA: 53 kg inspection drone rated to 300 m whose equipment fits in carry-on cases.
• BETTA: 300 kg drone with 8-24 hours endurance and manipulator payload support.
• CASPER: expendable, swarm-capable drone for mine countermeasure missions.
• Sambal OS and UI: onboard autonomy with path, lawnmower and encirclement modes plus mission control.
• Sambal Portal: cloud reports with AI anomaly flags, digital ruler and geo-referenced data.

A port operator in Hai Phong or Ba Ria-Vung Tau can inspect quay walls, jetty piles and scour without divers. An offshore oil and gas operator can run autonomous inspections of jackets and pipelines from small boats. A floating solar or hydropower owner can inspect submerged structures in low-visibility water.

The company states 50% cost savings compared with a work-class ROV and DP2 vessel campaign and 90% less risk through crewless operations. One operator can supervise several drones instead of one pilot per vehicle. Every dive captures 4K video, sonar maps, cathodic protection and thickness readings with geo-referenced, time-stamped data. Hand-launchable systems deploy from small boats without large vessels.

Offshore wind, oil and gas and port operators are under pressure to cut inspection costs and keep divers out of hazardous water, while navies are investing in uncrewed mine countermeasures. Vietnam's planned offshore wind build-out, expanding seaports and ageing offshore oil and gas assets create a growing need for subsea inspection.

Founded in 2018 and headquartered at Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2, Singapore, with offices in London and Rostock, Germany. The founders' NUS robotics team won Best New Entry at RoboSub in 2013. The site reports 700+ deployments in Europe and Asia and 18,000+ hours in water. Won the DIU and U.S. Navy Mine Countermeasures Modernization Prize Challenge in October 2026.