Unmanned Surface Vessel Becoming a Reality

Courtesy Photo | The Navy in conjunction with the Spatial Integrated Systems Incorporated holds a demonstration of a fully autonomous Unmanned Surface Vehicle at Fort Monroe. A harbor patrol scenario depicts how the USV uses its Autonomous Maritime Navigation Systems to patrol and scan designated areas for intruders using on board sensors and Obstacle Avoidance software in order to carry out its mission and report back its findings to a command center.  

UNITED STATES

01.15.2009

Story by Seaman Maddelin Hamm 

U.S. Navy           

By Petty Officer 3rd Class Maddelin Angebrand
Navy Public Affairs Support Element - East

NORFOLK, Va.- Spatial Integrated Systems Inc. in conjunction with the Navy hosted a demonstration of a fully Autonomous Unmanned Surface Vehicle on Jan. 14, off the shores of Fort Monroe, Va.

The USV demonstrated its Autonomous Maritime Navigation system as it transited the coast of Fort Monroe. AMN consists of on board sensors and obstacle avoidance software to help the USV maintain a safe distance from the shoreline, other crafts and objects in the water.

A harbor patrol scenario was carried out displaying how the USV uses the AMN system to patrol and scan an area for intruders. The vessel has its own "eyes", to gather information identify its surroundings. It is also equipped with a "brain," to process and react to information allowing it to make any changes to its desired course.

"What happens here is the USV, receives a command from the ashore station to patrol a rectangular-shaped area. Then, the command station receives real-time updates from the autonomy system on board the vessel if an intruder is detected," explained Rick Simon, SIS Program Manager. "The USV would close in and pull astern of the vessel to obtain data."

If adopted by the Navy, this cutting-edge technology would bring many capabilities to the fleet by supporting combat operations through unmanned reconnaissance and intelligence gathering.

"You could take these boats put them 400 miles in front of a carrier battle group. They'd be out there searching the air, surface and sub-surface; and would never transmit to the battle group unless they detect something of interest. The boat captain in the command center which receives the data could then command the UAV to stay on the intruder if he wanted to," said Simon.

Not only will this capability keep the Navy at the forefront of technology, it could cut down on manpower and ultimately save money while keeping personnel out of harms way.

"Having these UAVs would require less manpower as opposed to having manned vessels doing these dangerous missions. You could set up a command station with one technician monitoring ten of these vessels simultaneously," said Eric Hansen, Autonomous Maritime Navigation Program Manager from the Naval Surface Warfare Center Combatant Craft Division. "It would cut down on band-width use if you choose to have the vessel streaming only when it discovers a threat; saving the Navy money on band-width expenses."

With this vessel in the works for almost a decade, and still in the early stages of development the Navy plans to put two of these prototypes together to test the capabilities of having autonomous vehicles talk to each other as well as relay messages to the command post for Trident Warrior 2009 which starts in June.

"We're going to go up the James River with a few USVs and post a picket station at the river entrance. So, anything that comes in or out of the river will be scanned and photographed and loaded to a website where the Nassau Battle Group is going to be able to look at that intelligence and say 'Oh, I know exactly what's going in and out of that harbor,' " said Simon. "The goal is to perfect how the vessel "sees" and identifies objects, and then how it relates them to one another. Trident Warrior will help us do this."

Future USVs will be mission-tailored to detect, track, identify and engage maritime threats with minimal reliance on communications links or supervision. These vessels will permit a more efficient distribution of forces for wide-area surveillance and a persistent at-sea presence. Additional mission areas include port and inland waterway patrols along with mine and submarine detection.

• Date Taken: 01.15.2009
• Date Posted: 01.15.2009 15:56
• Story ID: 28894
• Location: US