Community News

Unmanned Priority

April 3, 2010 — via Seapower Magazine

QDR recommends more funding for Navy to develop new systems, vehicles for surface, underwater missions

Slow Progress

While the Navy sees unmanned craft as critical to future operations, efforts to develop an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) have fallen short.
Decades of research have yielded highly capable sensors, but shortcomings in technology and reliability have hampered development of a UUV to carry them.
Cost growth and size limitations also have been program inhibitors.
The Navy established the UUV Advanced Development Office to direct “experimentation and technology maturation.”

The Underwater Thinking Robot – Explorer

March 8, 2010 — via Netsons Blog

Canada has only three years to complete a deadline which is to compile enough evidence to support its claim to a vast Northern Territory in the Arctic. It has a critical mission, to map the sea floor in this area, and at a depth of up to 5 kilometers, there is enough pressure to crush a car to scrap metal, and kill a person long before that. How can they do this without risking life and limb?

In March of this year a small team will attempt to do just that. From an ice camp just above Borden island, over 4,000 kilometers from Toronto, they plan to launch a pioneer Autonomous unmanned vehicle, named Explorer. This six meter long, yellow torpedo shaped craft will be the first of it’s kind to explore a dark and mountainous world in the deep Arctic Ocean, previously unseen until now. Creeping through the depths, Explorer will travel at the same speed as a fast canoe, and tell us so much about the Ocean floor.

Royal New Zealand Navy assist in the search for the sunken ferry, PRINCESS ASHIKA.

March 8, 2010 — via Kongsberg Maritime

Hydroid, Inc. announces that in August 2009, the Royal New Zealand Navy's Operational Diving Team and a specialist Remote Search Team were flown to Tonga, in an RNZAF Hercules, at short notice to assist with the search for the sunken ferry, PRINCESS ASHIKA. Their REMUS 100 systems were the primary assets used in the search.

The search operations using the REMUS AUVs were successful and the RNZN located the ferry, intact and sitting in an upright position at a depth of 110 meters. The operations validate the belief that the REMUS systems could be mobilized quickly and conduct AUV operations in very remote locations with little logistical support.

Sea Ice/ AUV Specialist wanted

March 7, 2010 — via University of Tasmania

The appointee will have responsibility for coordinating and implementing an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) mission under Antarctic sea ice (in conjunction with vehicle operators), analysis of field data from the under-ice environment, and publication of results in peer-reviewed international journals.

Bye bye ABE

March 7, 2010 — via Road Long Life Short Blog

I just got an email from the Melville that says ABE was lost at sea yesterday. They're not sure what happened, and probably never will be, but the best guess at the moment is one of it's glass flotation spheres (contained in the red floats) imploded at depth (at the great pressures that are down in the deep-sea), setting off the other spheres to also implode. Without any floatation it could never come back to the surface to be collected. They lost signal with it too, meaning when it happened, it likely took out all the electronics.

UTEC Survey Signs Two-Year Cooperative Agreement with the University of Delaware

March 6, 2010 — via Oil Voice

UTEC Survey Inc., of Houston has signed a two-year cooperation agreement with the Oceanographic Research Department of the University of Delaware covering the enhancement and use of the University's Iceland-built Hafmynd 'Gavia' Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) system. Under the terms of the agreement, UTEC Survey will be working with the University to extend the vehicle's current capabilities, as well as deploying the AUV on a global basis to support a range of commercial survey operations.

Going under to look ahead

March 5, 2010 — via Sydney Morning Herald

Scientists are deploying more machines, sensors and other cutting-edge gadgets under water than ever before. The aim: to help them understand our changing oceans over the coming decades. Much of the gear in NSW - provided as part of a national infrastructure program named the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) - has been installed, however, more will be employed as the technology gradually improves.

Scientists fishing for answers

March 5, 2010 — via Sydney Morning Herald

To understand the massive movement of water past our shores, SIMS scientists are deploying the latest technology, including an autonomous underwater glider that swims through the eddies, as part of the Integrated Marine Observing System. They are also digging deep into sand dunes to discover what the NSW coastline looked like in the past and how future climate change could affect those who live on the coast.

Navy official calls for rapid deployment of unmanned vessels

March 4, 2010 — via CongressDaily

Chief of Naval Operations Gary Roughead said he expects to take unmanned underwater vehicles from experimentation to routine deployments by the end of the decade, boosting the Navy's ability to detect mines, survey coastlines and conduct other sea missions.
Roughead's comments dovetail with findings in the Pentagon's recently released Quadrennial Defense Review of military capabilities and requirements, which urges the Navy to pursue crewless subsurface ships as the military continues to procure and use unmanned aerial vehicles in record numbers.

Sources Sought: COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE MAN-PORTABLE UNMANNED UNDERWATER VEHICLE SYSTEM AUTONOMOUS MISSION PLANNER

March 4, 2010 — via Fedbizops.gov

GOVERNMENT REQUEST FOR INFORMATION - THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. The Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division (NAVEODTECHDIV), Indian Head, Maryland is requesting information on commercially available autonomous mission planner software modules that perform mission goal-oriented, dynamic, automated re-planning of single and multiple Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) behaviors. Submissions must reflect systems designs that are interoperable with REMUS-based mission planners and the Common Operator Interface Navy (COIN) for tactical mission planning of MK 18 UUV systems.

Unmanned Submersible Sonar Robot Ready to Dive into New Commercial and Defense Markets

March 3, 2010 — via Nano Patents and Innovations

St. John's-based Marport Canada Inc., which builds sonars for commercial deepwater fishing, is releasing its SQX-500 submarine. The submarine was built with NRC help and is suited for use in defense, offshore energy and ocean science applications.

AlumiFuel Power, Inc. Announces Update of Its Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Initiatives

March 2, 2010 — via AlumiFuel Power Corp

Early production stage hydrogen generation company AlumiFuel Power, Inc. ("API"), announced today that it has made major advances in applying its technology to U.S. Navy Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) applications, and in positioning API for specific UUV program opportunities.

Pentagon Pursuing Unmanned Snorkeler That Can Follow Diesel Subs

March 1, 2010 — via Inside the Navy

The Pentagon is examining a wholesale change in strategy in the way it tries to solve the problem of tracking quiet diesel submarines from depending on passive acoustic sensors to an unmanned semi-submersible that would actively trail the subs, according to a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency official.

DARPA held an industry day Feb. 16 for the Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV), a large “snorkeler” that would be able to trail a diesel submarine “over to its area of deployment and transit back 3,000 kilometers, all un-refueled,” Robert McHenry, the ACTUV program manager, told attendees of a Feb. 4 unmanned systems conference in Washington.

New Lithium Ion Battery Cells being Tested on Solar Catamaran

February 28, 2010 — via Clean Technology

Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH (HDW), a company of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, is testing innovative lithium ion battery cells on board the solar catamaran “PlanetSolar®”. The boat is financed by the German entrepreneur and solar pioneer Immo Ströher. In close cooperation with Knierim Yachtbau GmbH, the shipyard that built the catamaran and the battery manufacturer GAIA Akkumulatorenwerke GmbH HDW will now enter the final development phase for a new generation of energy storage systems that is designed for future use on non-nuclear submarines.

Remotely Piloted Underwater Glider Crosses the Atlantic

February 27, 2010 — via IEEE Spectrum MARCH 2010

Rutgers University's underwater vehicle successfully navigates an ocean

About 48 kilometers off the eastern coast of the United States, scientists from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, peered over the side of a small research vessel, the Arabella. They had just launched RU27, a 2-meter-long oceanographic probe shaped like a torpedo with wings. Although it sported a bright yellow paint job for good visibility, it was unclear whether anyone would ever see this underwater robot again. Its mission, simply put, was to cross the Atlantic before its batteries gave out.

Hudson Canyon Gives Up Secrets

February 26, 2010 — via NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center

Using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) called Eagle Ray, researchers from NOAA’s Fisheries Service, Rutgers University and the National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology (NIUST) have produced high resolution sonar maps of the canyon bottom. The maps provide details that other equipment such as sonar mounted on a ship’s hull cannot detect, and will be used to direct visual searches for the various bottom features during subsequent work in the area this summer.

Norway. Roald Amundsen 'Lost in the Arctic' documentary debuts in Oslo

February 26, 2010 — via BYM Marine & Maritime News

Kongsberg Maritime's HUGIN AUV is featured in an intriguing new documentary, which investigates the disappearance of Roald Amundsen and his 'Latham 47' sea-plane in the Barents Sea during a rescue mission in 1928. 'Roald Amundsen - Lost in the Arctic', is to have its first screening this Saturday (27th Feb 2010), in Oslo, Norway.
The new film sees polar explorer Liv Arnesen and Per Arvid Tellemann, a former navy navigator and member of a commission that investigated Amundsen's untimely death uncover the mystery on land, whilst the Norwegian Navy, aboard its vessel KNM Tyr, searches for the wreckage of Amundsen's plane using a Kongsberg Maritime HUGIN 1000 AUV and HISAS 1030 synthetic aperture sonar.

Indian AUV's trial to be conducted again in Kerala

February 25, 2010 — via Manorama Online

After the successful preliminary trial of the indigenously developed Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) in a Kerala reservoir, the Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute is expected to carry out another round of experiment in the same lake this year.

Shifting Sailors’ Workload to Robots Still Wishful Thinking

February 25, 2010 — via Military Technology

It’s the $64,000 question that Navy officials want answered: How many people does it take to operate an unmanned system? The answer is important to the sea service because it is acquiring fleets of remotely-operated air, ground and maritime vehicles that will deploy from ships and collaborate on missions in the near-shore, coastal waterway and seaport environments in the coming years. Unmanned vehicles are manpower-intensive technologies that require human control and monitoring often on a one-to-one basis. It typically takes two people — a pilot and a sensor operator — to fly and operate an unmanned aircraft from a ground control station.

Detect and destroy

February 25, 2010 — via Defence Management

In waters where ships cannot operate, normally in approaching a beach or in harbours, the Royal Navy relies on divers and, more recently, Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV). Already these systems are demonstrating that they can operate in areas where minehunters cannot go, as well as survey areas, more swiftly. Today they are used in conjunction with clearance divers who will investigate a contact picked up by the UUV and, if required, destroy it.

Silicon-coated Nanonets Could Build a Better Lithium-ion Battery

February 25, 2010 — via Boston College

A tiny scaffold-like titanium structure of Nanonets coated with silicon particles could pave the way for faster, lighter and longer-lasting Lithium-ion batteries, according to a team of Boston College chemists who developed the new anode material using nanotechnology.

Ocean robot 'plans experiments'

February 24, 2010 — via BBC News

Scientists in the US are using an underwater vehicle that can "plan its own experiments" on the seafloor. The "Gulper AUV" is programmed to look for the information that scientists want and plan its own route, avoiding hazardous currents and obstacles.

Hydroid’s Recce UUV to increase Royal Navy’s mine-countermeasure capabilities

February 24, 2010 — via Defence Professionals

The UK Ministry of Defence announced yesterday that the Royal Navy officially introduced into service its newest submersible asset to improve its mine countermeasure (MCM) capabilities: the ‘Recce’ unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV). The UUV, manufactured by US-based Hydroid, Inc and based upon the REMUS 600 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), successfully completed trials at the end of last year and has now been handed over to the Royal Navy's Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Unit.

UK Navy's new mine hunter enters service

February 23, 2010 — via Defence News

To tackle the abundant and significant threat of sea mines, the Royal Navy's new unmanned, underwater 'robots' have entered service following successful trials at the end of last year.

Optical system promises to revolutionize undersea communications

February 23, 2010 — via Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute

In a technological advance that its developers are likening to the cell phone and wireless Internet access, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists and engineers have devised an undersea optical communications system that—complemented by acoustics—enables a virtual revolution in high-speed undersea data collection and transmission.
Along with the “transfer [of] real-time video from un-tethered [submerged] vehicles” up to support vessels on the surface, “this combination of capabilities will make it possible to operate self-powered ROVs [remotely operate vehicles] from surface vessels without requiring a physical connection to the ROV,” says WHOI Senior Engineer Norman E. Farr, who led the research team. This will not only represent a significant technological step forward, but also promises to reduce costs and simplify operations, they say.

HUGIN 1000 Portable AUV System Demonstrated in Korea

February 22, 2010 — via Kongsberg Maritime

The HUGIN 1000 Portable AUV System has been demonstrated in Korean waters. The operation was carried out by KONGSBERG's AUV Department in close cooperation with the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) in the Republic of Korea (ROK).

A new way to build membranes for fuel cells

February 17, 2010 — via MIT

A team of researchers at MIT and Pennsylvania State University has been developing a new method for producing novel kinds of membranes that could have improved properties for batteries, fuel cells and other energy conversion and storage applications.

Navy’s Acquisition Methods Slow Down Deployment of Undersea Robots

February 16, 2010 — via National Defense Magazine

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead in recent months has directed Navy planners to boost funding and to speed up the design and production of unmanned systems. But he cautioned against pouring money into technological pipedreams that the Navy can’t afford. His pitch is backed by recommendations of the Naval War College’s strategic studies group, which concluded that the Navy needs to do a better job equipping ships at sea with robotic systems to help automate tasks currently done by sailors, and to improve ships’ capabilities to detect mines and other threats.

Autonomous Underwater Vehicle A wireless robotic sea-vehicle that can map the seafloor.

February 15, 2010 — via Technology Review India

Researchers at Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI) - the apex R&D institute for mechanical engineering under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – have developed India’s first indigenous autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). The robotic vehicle is expected to complete the final sea trial by August 2010. The mega system can fulfill tasks such as seafloor mapping, coastal surveillance, mine countermeasure, and oceanographic measurements during adverse weather conditions.

'Thinking' robot to explore depths of Arctic waters

February 13, 2010 — via Toronto Star

In March, a small team of Canadian government and industry experts plans to launch the autonomous unmanned vehicle (AUV) from an ice camp north of Borden Island, in the eastern Arctic, more than 4,100 kilometres northwest of Toronto.

The yellow craft will be on a critical mission to map the sea floor, at a depth of some five kilometres, as Canada rushes to compile evidence supporting its claim to a vast northern territory before a 2013 deadline.

SAUVIM robot completed its first fully autonomous mission

February 13, 2010 — via Rob Aid

The Autonomous Manipulation system, unlike teleoperated manipulation systems that are controlled by human operators with the aid of visual and other sensory feedback, must be capable of assessing a situation, including self-calibration based on sensory information, and executing or revising a course of manipulating action without continuous human intervention. Autonomous Systems Laboratory of the University of Hawaii and its spin-off company, MASE, Inc., have developed SAUVIM, an underwater robot capable of performing autonomous navigation and manipulation.

Heriot-Watt Oceans Systems Laboratory seeks Research Associate

February 11, 2010 — via Heriot-Watt

We wish to recruit a highly motivated individual as a research associate to join an active team of researchers, starting in February/March 2010, located within Heriot-Watt University in the attractive city of Edinburgh. The contract will initially be for a period of one year renewable to up to 3 years. Applicants should have a PhD or equivalent in a relevant numerate discipline, for example Physics, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mathematics or Computer Science. An engineering and mathematics background is required.

ITF calls for subsea intervention technology proposals

February 11, 2010 — via Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine

The Industry Technology Facilitator (ITF) is calling for proposals for technological solutions covering subsea power, AUV mission, cost-effective light well intervention, downhole diagnostic tools, high pressure/high temperature technology, and improved artificial lift.

Canada Will Use Robot Subs to Map Arctic Sea Floor, Boost Territorial Claims

February 10, 2010 — via New York Times

Two robot submarines will plunge into the Arctic next month in an effort to help Canada stake a claim to a large swath of potentially mineral-rich seafloor in the polar region.

Data gathered by the yellow torpedo-shaped probes will become part of Canada's bid to prove its continental slope stretches far beyond the 200-nautical-mile territorial limit. The matter will be decided by a U.N. panel overseeing claims under the 28-year-old Convention on the Law of the Sea.

CNO on Unmanned systems

February 4, 2010 — via Navy Times

Unmanned at sea. Officials are elated with the recent deployment of the vertical take-off unmanned aerial vehicle, better known as Fire Scout, aboard a ship supporting counter-drug operations. “We’re going to get these systems into where the action is,” Roughead said.

• More power. The Navy continues to expand its future fleet and inventory of unmanned systems that will be used for undersea and surface operations, but one big problem remains: Insufficient power. Roughead said the capability is hampered “if after 24 hours it has to come home.” He implored the crowd heavily represented by communications and electronics companies: “We need power, and we need power quickly.”

Electrochem Powers First Transatlantic Crossing of a Robotic Sea-Glider

February 4, 2010 — via Thomas Net

Electrochem's non-rechargeable lithium batteries were chosen to power the data collection features of the RU27, nicknamed the Scarlet Knight for Rutgers' sports teams, due to the product's exceptional performance in extreme temperature environments. The critical data collected during the mission will be provided back to the Navy for validation of ocean forecast models.

Admiral: UAVs, Other Unmanned Systems Crucial to Navy’s Future

February 4, 2010 — via Government Video

The technology has changed and so has the Navy’s outlook on remote-controlled and automated craft for the air and the water, said Rear Adm. Wendi B. Carpenter, commander at the Navy Warfare Development Command. Speaking at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Unmanned Systems Program Review Thursday (Feb. 4) in Washington. She described her job as being paid to think about unmanned systems, their future and their integration with information networks. She also described a superior telling her she had to “change the culture” of the Navy.

Research and development across Atlantic Canada is benefiting from an important federal investment of $62.4 million under Round VII of the Atlantic Innovation Fund (AIF).

February 3, 2010 — via The Government Monitor

Memorial University of Newfoundland, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science (St. John’s) Project: Responsive Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Localization and Mapping (REALM) Memorial’s Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science will integrate sonar and advanced navigation and adaptive mission control systems for its Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). The new technology will enable the AUV to perform high quality seabed surveys to focus on areas of interest, thereby reducing time, energy, cost, and risk of vehicle loss. This project, with estimated total costs of $4 million, will receive approximately $2.1 million from the Atlantic Innovation Fund over a four-year period.

Integrating wide swath sonar with the portable AUV

February 2, 2010 — via Engineer Live

GeoAcoustics Ltd and Hydroid Inc have been integrating the GeoSwath Plus wide swath sonar with the Remus 100 man-portable AUV.

Quadrennial Defense Review released

February 1, 2010 — via U S Department of Defense

Exploit advantages in subsurface operations. The Navy is increasing funding for the development of an unmanned underwater vehicle that will be capable of a wide range of tasks.