Northrop Grumman Corporation has announced that the company and industry partners will demonstrate advanced autonomous technologies in a multi-domain contested maritime environment during this year’s Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX) at Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) in Panama City, Florida.

The demonstration will showcase Northrop Grumman’s advanced mission management and control system aligned with the Navy Common Control System vision, highlighting the benefits of an open architecture approach and demonstrating the ability to rapidly integrate multiple capabilities into a relevant mission scenario.

“Northrop Grumman is the leader in autonomous systems and development of innovative technologies,” said Jeff Hoyle, director, undersea warfare, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. “Executing undersea strike with existing technology using multi-domain autonomous platforms equipped with networked sensors and advanced mission management for command and control provides significant offensive and defensive capability in the maritime environment.”

Multiple unmanned undersea vehicles, unmanned surface vehicles and a surrogate unmanned aerial vehicle will collaboratively conduct seabed warfare in a contested environment. Autonomous systems will collect, analyze and synthesize data from numerous sensors to develop real-time targeting solutions that enable an unmanned undersea vehicle to engage an adversary’s seabed infrastructure.

“Emerging threats are changing the undersea battlespace in complex ways and at an increasing pace,” said Alan Lytle, vice president, undersea systems business unit Northrop Grumman. “Integration of our proven system of systems capabilities optimizes the deployment of our naval forces and provides commanders with a decisive advantage.”

The three day annual exercise was developed to demonstrate future Navy technologies in a collaborative, low risk environment. Government, academia and industry participants gather to showcase new capabilities to push the boundaries of what is possible in a complex environment.

Northrop Grumman demonstrated autonomous maritime domain awareness and anti-submarine warfare capabilities at last year’s ANTX exercise at Naval Undersea Warfare Command in Newport, Rhode Island, validating a range of sensors and systems using autonomous sub, surface, and air vehicles. The autonomous surface and subsurface vehicles collected data, validated contacts and processed real time data transmission to ground operators via surrogate autonomous aircraft and satellites for exploitation. Submerged targets were then engaged with air-dropped weapons demonstrating a complete detect-to-engage autonomous anti-submarine warfare capability.

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QinetiQ North America (QNA) has announced that it has successfully demonstrated full-duplex underwater acoustic data communications, using its new proprietary DOLPHIN technology. Developed in partnership with Optimal Systems Laboratory, the DOLPHIN Communication technology will enable new capabilities for undersea systems such as unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). QNA and OSL have developed a unique way of using patented cancelation technology that will enable simultaneous transmit and receive (STAR) acoustic communications. This technology will make it possible to create extensive undersea data and communication wireless networks, solving many challenges for Navy and commercial users.

Dolphin benefits include:

• Enables self-forming acoustic underwater networks to operate similarly to wireless land networks with nodes in motion
• Multi-component control networks for fixed and mobile assets anywhere underwater
• Frequency independence, allowing DOLPHIN Comms to be configurable on most systems and platforms (unmanned underwater vehicles, submarines, ships, etc.)
• Full duplex communications greatly improves acoustic data transfer performance over other technologies
• Dolphin Comms STAR enables extremely low power communications

Dolphin Technology was demonstrated during the Advanced Navy Technology Exercise (ANTX) held in Panama City, Florida.

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General Dynamics Mission Systems and General Dynamics Electric Boat have announced that they have demonstrated multiple mission command, control and communication capabilities connecting Bluefin Robotics’ unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) and an AeroVironment Blackwing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a simulated AN/BYG-1 submarine combat control center ashore. A Stackable Air-powered Launch System (STAPLS) designed for use aboard submarines was also used. The goal of the General Dynamics demonstrations was to provide available solutions to the communications challenges of operating in a contested, undersea environment. Each demonstration took place at the U.S. Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) in Newport, Rhode Island, as part of the Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX) 2017.

The General Dynamics team demonstrated capabilities for real-time, two-way communications from the AN/BYG-1 control center to change the mission Bluefin SandShark UUV, via the UAV while the Bluefin SandShark was operating in the water. In another demonstration, the Bluefin SandShark communicated with a simulated undersea communications network comprised of an acoustic communication node connected to a fiber optic cable that relayed information from the Bluefin SandShark back to the AN/BYG-1 via a surface buoy.

The General Dynamics team also launched both a Bluefin SandShark UUV and a Hammerhead canister containing the UAV from two platforms, a Bluefin-21 medium-weight UUV and then from a STAPLS launcher designed by General Dynamics Electric Boat.

“This demonstration proves that General Dynamics and its partners can solve significant challenges to establishing tactical communication networks quickly and effectively using assets undersea, at the surface and in the air,” said Carlo Zaffanella, vice president and general manager of Maritime and Strategic Systems for General Dynamics Mission Systems. “We look forward to working with our partners and the Navy to make these capabilities mission ready.”

General Dynamics Electric Boat’s Applied Physical Sciences organization developed the prototype STAPLS launcher as a powerful, cost-effective solution to launch tactical assets like the Bluefin SandShark and Blackwing UAV from a submarine. This simple, scalable launcher, developed with Electric Boat’s internal funds, can increase submarine payload options without displacing existing payloads. Adaptable to a wide range of payloads, insertion on fielded and new construction submarines is envisioned.

Kenneth Perry, a vice president of General Dynamics Electric Boat said, “The General Dynamics team successfully demonstrated our innovative STAPLs submarine payload launcher with UAV and UUV payloads, all integrated via an air-land-undersea network. It reflects General Dynamics’ commitment to delivering advanced and relevant undersea capabilities for the Navy.”

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Hydroid Inc., a subsidiary of Kongsberg Maritime and manufacturer of marine robotics, has announced that it has successfully completed the first delivery of the New Generation REMUS 100 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to the Naval Oceanographic Office. This delivery is a major milestone for Hydroid and represents the continuous evolution of the REMUS AUV product lines and ongoing growth of marine robotics technology.

“This is an exciting time for unmanned underwater technology and we are proud to play a major role in the market with our REMUS line of AUVs,” said Duane Fotheringham, president of Hydroid. “The evolution of the REMUS 100 is a testament to the sustainability and longevity of our AUVs and our ability to maintain our core offering, while also integrating the latest, cutting-edge technologies.”

The New Generation REMUS 100 AUV features advanced technology and capabilities that Hydroid claims are the first of their kind in the industry, enabling customers to have increased autonomy and capability during missions. Designed based on the feedback from the AUV community, it combines the reliability of the original REMUS 100 AUV with new features and capabilities, such as advanced core electronics, a flexible navigation suite with an exclusive conformal Doppler Velocity Log (DVL) and an open architecture platform for advanced autonomy.

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Lockheed Martin Ventures has announced that it is making a strategic investment in Ocean Aero, the developer of the Submaran unmanned maritime vehicle. This will create opportunities for both companies to grow their maritime capabilities, with a focus on multi-domain Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR).

Lockheed Martin Ventures is Ocean Aero’s second significant investor, joining marine instrumentation leader Teledyne Technologies, which has invested in Ocean Aero since 2014.

“Ocean Aero represents the next generation of environmentally powered, autonomous ocean systems,” said Chris Moran, executive director and general manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures. “Our investment will allow us to better respond to customers’ maritime needs with technology solutions for a diverse set of missions.”

The Submaran is a new class of unmanned underwater and surface vessel for ocean observation and data collection. Powered by wind and solar energy, the Submaran is capable of traveling for months, even in extreme conditions. The vessel is easy to deploy and recover, and can dive to depths of 660 feet to avoid surface traffic or to conduct C4ISR operations.

Lockheed Martin partnered with Ocean Aero on a successful, multi-domain unmanned systems technology demonstration during the 2016 Annual Naval Technology Exercise at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, Rhode Island. This investment will allow the companies to continue to demonstrate their expertise in configuring teams of autonomous systems for complex missions.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to grow our business and leverage the strengths of Lockheed Martin to accelerate innovation in the autonomous domain,” said Eric Patten, CEO and president of Ocean Aero.

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Hydroid has announced that, in conjunction with partners L3 Aerospace Systems, Sparton Corporation and AeroVironment, it has successfully demonstrated the company’s latest unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) capabilities, including the launch of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), at the U.S. Navy’s Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX) in Newport, Rhode Island.

Outfitted with L3’s Rio Nino signals intelligence (SIGINT) collection payload and a Sparton Hammerhead canister containing an AeroVironment Blackwing UAV, the Hydroid REMUS 600 (also known as the MK18 Mod 2 and Littoral Battlespace Sensing – AUV) conducted a threat mission scenario. The fully-integrated vehicle demonstrated the clandestine insertion of above water intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), including the real-time collection of information, and the launch of a UAV covertly from depth.

“ANTX is an excellent opportunity for companies like ours to demonstrate the latest concepts and capabilities. With our partners, we were able to prove that UUVs are cross domain systems,” said Tom Reynolds, Hydroid’s vice president of U.S. Government Business. “These technologies were very easy to integrate and we look forward to building on what we have learned from this demonstration.”

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UAV Propulsion Tech has announced that it has signed a distributor agreement with Coral Partners to market their family of underwater marine remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). Nova Ray ROV’s unique hydrodynamic features effectively use water flow rather than resistance to maintain operational control under changing operating modes. Under thruster power, the patented Arcuate Wings operate just as a high-winged airplane would in free flight. Under “controlled” tow, the Arcuate Wing, combined with the seamless shift in the center of rotation from the cable pull, produces a stable configuration suitable for a wide range of applications. Nova Ray is customizable and available in four standard configurations based on depth of use (305m, 550m, 1500m, 4000m).

UAV Propulsion Tech is a US company that markets German, Canadian, UK and Swedish unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology into the global UAV market. These solutions include consumer off the shelf (COTs) and custom: propulsion, autopilot, servo/actuator, electric turbofans, pneumatic launchers, gyro-stabilized gimbals, fuel/engine sensors and rescue/recovery parachute solutions. UAV Propulsion Tech has also been working in the underwater submersible space by providing Volz submersible servos to underwater application customers in North America. Volz servos have been tested down to 4,000m water depth.

The inventors of the NOVA Ray ROVs, brothers Marc & Krist Geriene, are experienced commercial divers and ROV operators. Through this personal hands-on experience they conceptualized, prototyped, and developed numerous patented technologies essential for providing ROV stability and control, including both the Arcuate Wing and the tether/cable attach mechanism.

Marc Geriene, Coral Partners’ CEO, commented: “We are very pleased to have developed a business relationship with Bob Schmidt and UAV Propulsion Tech. We see the synergy between our market and his as being complementary to both.” He also added, “We look forward to collaborating on the introduction of several new products that leverage UAV Propulsion Tech’s core strengths, and exploring a supplier relationship as well.”

Tim McGuinness, Ph.D, Chief Marketing Officer at Coral Partners, said: “We are excited to bring on UAV Propulsion Tech as a distributor because of Bob’s connections in the commercial and defense markets that could use Nova Ray for underwater exploration, particularly for pipeline inspection, underwater mapping, and exploration. Our new “AeroSub” product will also be a good fit for UAV Propulsion Tech because it will provide both aerial (overwater) and submersible capability.”

Bob Schmidt, founder and president of UAV Propulsion Tech, added, “The addition of Coral Partners’ Nova Ray ROV and future AeroSub expands our product solutions to cover both air and underwater applications. We have seen the expansion of the underwater market through the sale of submersible actuators from Volz Servos out of Germany. Mapping and surveillance from the air and underwater is a growing market and we are adding advanced technical solutions to best support this market.

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General Dynamics Mission Systems has announced that it has successfully completed contractor trials for the U.S. Navy’s Knifefish program, a mine countermeasure (MCM) unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV). The Knifefish UUV operated in multiple mine test target fields at-sea using buried, bottom and volume type mine-test targets. The Knifefish system successfully demonstrated its ability to detect, classify and identify potential mines, at a variety of depths, each of which would pose a unique threat to naval vessels operating in a mission area.

“The Navy is pleased with the Knifefish performance during the recent contractor trials, as the system demonstrated its ability to reliably find mines in different environments,” stated Capt. Jonathan Rucker, PMS 406 Program Manager. “Knifefish provides the Navy a critical means to find and identify bottom, buried, and volume mines, providing a much-needed capability for the warfighter.”

“This round of contractor testing demonstrated the continued improvement in the performance of the Knifefish UUV,” said Carlo Zaffanella, vice president and general manager of Maritime and Strategic Systems for General Dynamics Mission Systems. “Working closely with the Navy, we look forward to Sea Acceptance Trials in 2018 and continued refinement of the Knifefish system.”

Contractor trials, managed by General Dynamics Mission Systems, took place off the coast of Boston using submerged Navy mine-test targets. These trials differed from previous evaluations of the Knifefish UUV by demonstrating end-to-end performance of the Knifefish system in realistic at-sea mission scenarios over the course of hundreds of hours of at-sea operation and more than a hundred simulated missions.

Knifefish is a medium-class mine countermeasure UUV intended for deployment from the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship and other Navy vessels. Knifefish will reduce risk to personnel by operating in the minefield as an off-board sensor while the host ship stays outside the minefield boundaries.

General Dynamics Mission Systems is the prime contractor for the Knifefish program. The company designed the tactical UUV using an open architecture concept that can be quickly and efficiently modified to accommodate a wide range of missions that may face future naval operations. The Knifefish UUV is based on the General Dynamics Bluefin Robotics Bluefin-21 deep-water Autonomous Undersea Vehicle (AUV).

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Lockheed Martin has announced that it will support the growth of the U.S. Navy’s family of unmanned undersea systems under a design phase contract valued at $43.2 million for Orca, the U.S. Navy’s Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV).

XLUUV Orca is a two phase competition, including the currently awarded design phase and a competitive production phase for up to nine vehicles to meet increasing demands for undersea operational awareness and payload delivery.

The long-range autonomous vehicle will perform a variety of missions, enabled by a reconfigurable payload bay. Key attributes include extended vehicle range, autonomy, and persistence. Orca will transit to an area of operation; loiter with the ability to periodically establish communications, deploy payloads, and transit home. A critical benefit of Orca is that Navy personnel launch, recover, operate, and communicate with the vehicle from a home base and are never placed in harm’s way.

“With each new undersea vehicle that Lockheed Martin designs, we bring to bear the state-of-the-art in technology, and innovative system integration of those technologies, to increase the range, reach, and effectiveness of undersea forces and their missions,” said Frank Drennan, director, submersibles and autonomous systems, business development. “With decades of experience supporting the U.S. Navy’s mission, our engineers are approaching this design with a sense of urgency and continued agility.”

Lockheed Martin employees in Palm Beach, Florida, will perform the work on Orca, with additional support from employees at the company’s locations in Manassas, Virginia, Syracuse, New York, and Owego, New York.

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Teledyne Gavia, a provider of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), has announced that the company has been awarded a contract for the supply of a 6000m rated AUV for deep water Search and Recovery applications for delivery in 2018.

The newly designed SeaRaptor AUV will incorporate a broad range of Teledyne content including acoustic modems, a flight data recorder beacon locator and sub-bottom profilers (Teledyne Benthos, Falmouth, MA), multi-beam echosounders and obstacle avoidance sonars (Teledyne RESON, Denmark), Doppler Velocity Log (DVL) and Current, Temperature, and Depth sensor (CTD) (Teledyne RD Instruments, San Diego, CA), and onboard processing software (Teledyne Caris, New Brunswick, Canada). In addition, the vehicle will carry an Edgetech Side Scan Sonar with Dynamic Focus capability. Teledyne Marine’s ability to combine industry leading vehicle design, instrumentation, imaging sensors, and interconnect solutions from a single supplier into a turnkey package for customers makes the company highly regarded in the unmanned underwater vehicle market.

“Teledyne is excited and honored to receive this contract for its newly designed vehicle”, said Thomas Altshuler, Vice President and Group General Manager for Teledyne Marine Systems. “Teledyne Marine has the industry’s broadest range of leading underwater solutions which makes Teledyne a reliable and proven partner for important projects, like this specialized AUV.”

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Kraken Robotics has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Kraken Robotic Systems Inc., has entered a strategic partnership with Avitas Systems, a GE Venture. The companies will integrate Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), acoustic and laser sensor technology and artificial intelligence-based navigation software into unique subsea inspection solutions for the oil and gas, offshore renewable energy, and shipping industries. The announcement was made during GE’s Mind + Machines event in San Francisco, California.

“Bridging Kraken’s cost-effective technologies with our autonomy, state-of-the-art platform, and domain knowledge allows us to commercialize efficient solutions tailored to the oil and gas industry’s specific needs,” said Brad Tomer, Vice President of Operations at Avitas Systems, who attended GE’s Minds + Machines event in San Francisco. “We look forward to developing complex solutions that offshore assets in challenging ocean conditions require.”

Karl Kenny, Kraken’s President and CEO added, “Integrating our technologies with Avitas Systems will significantly enhance subsea asset management and provide improved safety, reduced costs and actionable intelligence for operators. We look forward to announcing our first contract during 4Q 2017.”

Routine subsea inspections can be slow and costly and often include manual visual inspection with large margins of error. Utilizing enhanced imaging technology and inspection solutions will improve the jobs of inspectors and increase safety, accuracy, speed, cost efficiency and asset longevity. Avitas Systems will be able to complete subsea inspection with reduced cost and time, and operational footprint.

Kraken Robotics brings a broad range of cost-efficient AUV technologies, such as underwater sensors, pressure tolerant batteries, thrusters and control electronics. Avitas Systems will integrate these technologies into an autonomous subsea inspection system. The data from this inspection will be uploaded into a state-of-the-art platform that includes robust data ingestion, automatic defect recognition, predictive analytics and a cloud-based visualization portal for oil and gas and offshore energy customers.

Across industries, Avitas Systems provides autonomous inspection with robots that can target specific points on industrial assets and follow precise paths from digitized 3D models. The paths’ repeatability enables artificial intelligence-based change detection and automated defect recognition for smarter inspection scheduling based on anticipated risk. Early detection and resolution of potential industrial issues means safer, more reliable operations and enhanced asset integrity. Working with Kraken Robotics, Avitas Systems will now be able to apply this process to underwater inspections.

The partnership expands capabilities for inspections of ship and FPSO hulls, underwater production fields, subsea pipelines and cables and offshore wind farm assets. Kraken’s SeaVision sensor, which can flexibly attach to AUVs and Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs), combines laser scanning and optical imaging to provide highly detailed data for inspectors and operators. The sensor’s unprecedented colourized laser imagery better detects and characterizes corrosion, cracks, marine growth and other defects. SeaVision’s laser scanning process can be repeated thousands of times per second to generate coordinate values for millions of points on a surface. These points then become highly accurate and intricate 3D models of subsea infrastructure.

Avitas Systems will also use sonar technology and navigational software from Kraken Robotics to optimize robots’ abilities to follow supervisory commands, track pipeline or subsea field positioning with AI-powered swim paths and identify priority areas for inspection. Kraken’s AquaPix Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) technology will specifically enable 3D volumetric imaging, particularly useful for buried pipeline inspection and broader seafloor viewing.

The high-resolution images of assets’ surface contours can be inputted into the Avitas Systems cloud-based platform, where advanced algorithms fuse multiple sensor data, perform image analytics and predict actionable outcomes in real-time. The Avitas Systems platform can centralize and prioritize the inspection data by areas of interest to inspectors, which will increase efficiency.

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The Schmidt Ocean Institute has announced that it has made seventeen underwater robotic dives with its ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) SuBastian, completing the first expedition of the islands and eastern seamounts of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) in the nation of Kiribati. This expedition follows an initial exploration of the western seamounts by the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer. PIPA is the world’s largest and deepest marine UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“This journey was in the tradition of the grand research expeditions of the past,” said Chief Scientist Dr. Erik Cordes from Temple University. “We traveled nearly 3,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean and explored a part of the world that has remained entirely hidden from view until now.”

The expedition on board R/V Falkor has made a major contribution to the field of marine science, defining the habitat zones of a seamount from the deep sea to the surface for the first time, and discovering at least two new species of coral and crab. Researchers collected the deep sea specimens by using a new soft robotics technology, “squishy fingers”, for adaptive sampling developed by the Wyss Institute and Harvard University and further refined by 3D printing on board while at sea.

All the robotic dives were livestreamed in high definition on Schmidt Ocean Institute’s YouTube and Facebook page, attracting over 100,000 views. The diving and camera technology on ROV SuBastian allowed the scientists to make new observations of octopus behavior; and capture one of the deepest records of mantis shrimp observed. Videos will be held in perpetuity showcasing breathtaking footage of deep coral reefs, dumbo octopuses, and six-gill sharks.

“This expedition will help to inform conservation and management goals for the region,” said one of the expedition leads Dr. Randi Rotjan, from Boston University. “As deep-sea mining continues to gain traction in the region, this information will help to inform responsible management of deep sea communities.”

The Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) was the first large marine protected area to include substantial deep water habitat in its boundaries. As of Jan 1, 2015, PIPA became fully closed to all extractive and commercial activities (with the exception of a small sustainable use zone around Kanton), generating an ideal space to ask questions about ecological baselines and species distribution.

“Despite our intensive exploration of eight previously unmapped seamounts and island atolls, from 2,400 m, to a shallow 100 m, there was very little evidence of human presence”, said Dr. Tim Shank of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and one of the Principal Investigators of the expedition. “We encountered a high biodiversity in these areas and the recent establishment of the protected area can ensure we have important model deep-sea systems for future research.”

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L3 Technologies has announced that it will design next-generation communications, mission planning, autonomy, navigation, cybersecurity and anti-tamper capabilities for the U.S. Navy’s Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle, or XLUUV. L3 will integrate these capabilities throughout the vehicle and system, which includes a fixed ashore command center, a mobile command center and forward operating base support systems.

“As part of the Boeing team, L3 is committed to meeting the U.S. Navy’s urgent operational need with advanced capabilities,” said Christopher E. Kubasik, L3’s President and Chief Operating Officer. “This contract demonstrates our ability to integrate a range of unmanned undersea sensors and systems from across the company and accelerate our undersea growth strategy.”

L3’s Sensor Systems and Communication Systems business segments collaborated to design these capabilities for the XLUUV program. L3 Adaptive Methods, the newest business of L3’s growing presence in the unmanned undersea market, is a supporting member of the L3 team.

“We are developing discriminating unmanned undersea technologies, including vehicles, communications, power capabilities and sensors, to stay on the leading edge as the undersea threat evolves over the next decade,” added Jeff Miller, L3’s Senior Vice President and President of its Sensor Systems segment.

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OXIS Energy has announced that in conjunction with technology firm Steatite, underwater equipment developer MSubs and the UK’s National Oceanography Centre (NOC), it has developed a pressure-tolerant Lithium Sulfur (LiS) battery that is capable of powering autonomous vehicles to ocean depths of over 6,000 metres.

The cells can withstand the extreme pressure of 664 bars – equivalent to a water depth of 6,640 metres – at a temperature of 4°C without being compromised on integrity. Rated at 300 Wh/Kg in standard conditions, the cells achieved 289Wh/kg at a pressure of 450 bars – equivalent to a water depth of 4,500 metres – at a temperature of 4°C. The Gravimetric Energy Density of the complete battery is 184Wh/kg with the optimised design.

Due to the neutral buoyancy of the cells and battery, buoyancy foam can be reduced in the vehicle, saving cost, weight and volume.

MSubs has integrated the battery to power a test ROV (Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle) supplied by Deepbots AS named “Sperre Subfighter 7500”. These tests were performed on site at Sperre AS, Nottoden, Norway.

Dr RooholIah Torabi, project manager for marine autonomous systems at OXIS, said: “It has been a great pleasure for OXIS to work with Steatite, NOC and MSUBS. The consortium members had special and complementary skills that contributed to the success of the project. We hit all of our ambitious targets to fabricate and test a customised battery using Li-S cells and its demonstration in a real environment. It’s an impressive achievement for the consortium to develop a pressure tolerant battery which can generate new market opportunities for marine applications. We are also very grateful to Innovate UK and DSTL for funding the project.”

Paul Edwards, Divisional Director of Steatite Batteries, added, “The project has provided a number of challenges which have all been overcome though the hard work and determination of the consortium members. With valuable domain expertise and test resource provided by our academic partners at the NOC, through to successful sea trials and product integration by MSubs, the group can be proud of the world class achievements and capabilities it has delivered. The programme has generated considerable interest within the marine community, where the benefits of a lightweight pressure tolerant battery and improved safety offered by Lithium Sulfur cells are realized as a significant game changing technology. As the OXIS chemistry continues to mature and improve in terms of Gravimetric energy, we will see greater gains in battery pack performance. The Steatite Battery Management System and battery pack design enables a broad range of applications, and we are now looking toward the next phase which will see our battery packs successfully deployed in long term marine autonomous applications.“

OXIS Energy Ltd is involved in the design, development and now the move towards commercial production of Lithium Sulfur cells for battery systems. With 35 patent families, OXIS has been granted 108 patents with 110 pending. OXIS has demonstrable empirical data justifying its claim on the inherent safety of its battery technology.

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Newton Labs, a manufacturer of underwater laser scanners, has announced the introduction of its new M500UW, an ultra high resolution scanner that duplicates the high resolution scanning of Newton’s existing M210UW but at depths of up to 500 Meters, adding to Newton’s extensive line of subsea scanners.

The M500UW underwater laser scanner is specifically designed for capturing ultra high resolution metrology data and can be deployed on ROV and AUV submersibles. It can also be cable serviced for depths of up to 100 meters.

“The M500UW increases our extensive underwater laser scanning line that already stands as the most complete product offering of underwater laser scanners in the world,” said John Bramblet, President of Newton Labs .”With the M500UW we’ve produced a plug and play product that will easily integrate with a variety of industry hardware and produce ultra high resolution scans at up to 500 Meters.”

The M500UW easily interfaces with IMU (inertial measurement unit) devices, either integral to the ROV/AUV or exterior IMU systems. The scanner draws its power from the MUX or ROV/AUV and only requires 24VDC and GigEthernet from the MUX or ROV/AUV. The M500UWUW is depth rated to 500 Meters and is easily mounted on ROV or AUV submersibles.

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Aquabotix has announced the introduction of its second-generation hybrid underwater vehicle, the Integra AUV/ROV (autonomous underwater vehicle/remotely operated vehicle). Single-person deployable, portable and lithium ion battery-powered, the Integra AUV/ROV allows users to conduct multiple underwater missions, while providing an alternative to deploying separate AUVs and ROVs for individualized tasks.

The Integra AUV/ROV can be configured with multiple sensors and maneuvered by an intuitive platform accessible from any web-enabled device. The vehicle is designed for use across several sectors, including law enforcement, research, environmental assessment, defense and infrastructure, and can search wide areas using AUV mode (untethered) while conducting detailed inspections using ROV mode (tethered). Users can easily switch from AUV mode to ROV mode by attaching the tether to remotely control the vehicle’s six degrees of freedom of motion. When running the vehicle in autonomous operation, all mission planning is completed in a Windows-based application.

“With the Integra Hybrid AUV/ROV, we have added more functionality to a single vehicle,” said David Batista, CEO of Aquabotix. “Because this vehicle has the brain power to conduct autonomous missions as well as detailed inspections in a single setting, operators have immediate and complete control. The introduction of the Integra AUV/ROV is the next step in the evolution of underwater vehicles and illustrates how Aquabotix continues to successfully meet the demands of underwater exploration and inspection.”

Other features of the Integra AUV/ROV include:

• Five high-torque motors
• Live Remote Control and data sharing
• Configurable sensor suite: Side scan sonar, multibeam sonar, scanning sonar, DVL, USBL, INS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and environmental sensors available
• Sensor package including depth, temperature, orientation and GPS
• 1080p true high-definition camera with pan and tilt
• Depth Rating 100m or 300m models available
• 5 pounds of payload capability
• Up to 8 hours battery life
• High Intensity LED lighting (4400 Lumens)

“Our second-generation hybrid, the Integra, leverages the strongest innovative capabilities of both types of underwater vehicles. Yet in utilizing our hybrid digital platform, users no longer need two vehicles to explore and conduct tasks underwater. Now, they can activate AUV mode for broad range searches, while switching to ROV capabilities for more in-depth analysis of underwater conditions,” said Durval Tavares, Chief Technology Officer of Aquabotix. “Simply put, the Integra AUV/ROV is a force multiplier for our customers.”

Aquabotix also recently announced its new Live Remove Control product feature, which customers can use to pilot underwater vehicles, store, analyze and share data, from any web browser-enabled device, remotely, from anywhere in the world. Aquabotix’s entire family of products, including the Integra, are now equipped with this functionality.

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3D at Depth, a provider of advanced subsea LiDAR systems and solutions, has announced that it has partnered with iQ3Connect (iQ3) to deliver a new data visualization tool to help clients build, maintain, map and monitor subsea assets, environments and resources. The partnership leverages the unique features of 3D at Depth’s subsea LiDAR data and the power of iQ3’s augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) platform to transform the value of offshore survey data collected by platforms such as ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles) and AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles).

Powered by iQ3’s cloud-based software platform, users can access 3D at Depth’s subsea LiDAR data through a secure, optimized web-based portal. The technology creates an immersive VR environment with true 1-to-1 3D scale models generated using repeatable, millimetric subsea LiDAR data inputs. Using a laptop, desktop or smart device, geographically dispersed teams can collaborate within a single VR session and be present in the same scene. iQ3Connect’s underlying technology runs from a computer aided design (CAD) based platform allowing simulation of structures overlaid with subsea infrastructure.

The ability to explore and experience 3D content as if users were actually onsite with a digital representation of physical assets or the surrounding environment creates a seamless workflow environment from reality capture to virtual immersion. Subsea LiDAR 3D data can be viewed and discussed with minimal changes to current installed geographic information systems (GIS) or big data hosting platforms. From data acquisition through data visualization and analysis, challenges faced by subsea survey programs are attributed to connecting actionable data to the right resource at the right time. 3D at Depth’s Subsea LiDAR VR Platform lowers the barriers and allows multiple users and key decision makers to “see” the same data together for greater insight and better decisions.

“iQ3Connect has been on the forefront of developing powerful AR and VR technology. Their expertise in industrial and engineering VR technology running on CAD based systems was a pivotal factor in our decision to partner,” said Neil Manning, Chief Business Development Officer, 3D at Depth. “Now, we can leverage the convergence between iQ3’s VR web-based platform and 3D at Depth’s subsea LiDAR data to allow customers greater connectivity to access the critical data they need to make better, more effective decisions. We are excited to move this partnership to the next level as we develop additional innovations to transform the digital oilfield.”

“3D at Depth’s leadership role in bringing commercial subsea LIDAR solutions to market made them a perfect lead to advance our technology in the offshore and marine sectors,” said Michael Bloor, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, iQ3Connect. “Our goal is to unlock the power of data through easy to use and productive AR and VR solutions that foster better decisions across the value chain.”

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Kawasaki Heavy Industries has announced the successful completion of a verification test for an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) in UK waters.

With a focus on the growing demand for pipeline maintenance in the offshore oil and gas fields, Kawasaki has been developing component technologies of AUVs utilizing sophisticated underwater vehicle technologies fostered in-house over the years, with support from a subsidization project by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT).

An AUV is capable of autonomously assessing and acting according to its surrounding conditions and circumstances while carrying out preassigned missions, which stands in contrast to the more widely used remotely operated vehicle (ROV), which needs a tether cable for its operation. As a result, AUVs can be operated without dedicated operators on the mother ship or special onboard equipment. Furthermore, tasks such as charging and transferring collected inspection data to the mother ship can be carried out while the AUV is underwater, which enables longer deployment time and reduces the frequency of launching and recovery work. These are expected to reduce the burden of the ship crew, offer greater safety, and reduce maintenance-related costs.

The AUV verification test was carried out at The Underwater Centre, a marine testing and training facility in Fort William, Scotland. Tests at sea used a prototype AUV and a charging station, and included automated docking of the AUV to the charging station, contactless charging, and large-capacity optical communication operations.

During the testing period, representatives from major oil and gas companies, underwater vehicle and equipment operating companies, UK government organizations, UK subsea scientific societies and other organizations interested in Kawasaki’s AUV development efforts were invited to view demonstrations. Kawasaki received high praise from the attendees in relevant fields, with many expressing hope for future commercialization of the AUV.

Kawasaki plans to pursue full-scale development of a pipeline-inspection AUV which utilizes the automated docking and other component technologies tested in Scotland, as well as control algorithms being developed in cooperation with the UK’s Heriot-Watt University, with the aim of commercializing the AUV by the end of 2020.

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Saab has announced that it will demonstrate its anti-submarine warfare (ASW) training system, the AUV62-AT, for the U.S. Navy (USN). The AUV62-AT is an unmanned vehicle-based artificial acoustic system that mimics a submarine.

The USN will evaluate Saab’s AUV62-AT against USN systems through the Foreign Comparative Testing (FCT) Program. The demonstration is planned for summer 2018, with an option to continue testing into 2019.

The USN is investigating a replacement to its current ASW training system for its Undersea Warfare Training Range.

“With submarine usage on the rise, anti-submarine warfare training is more crucial than ever. Some of today’s submarines are armed with heavyweight torpedoes that can destroy a massive vessel rather than simply disable it. AUV62-AT prepares operators for this threat,” says Görgen Johansson, Senior Vice President and head of Saab´s Business Area Dynamics.

Saab’s AUV62-AT package trains operators in submarine surveillance, detection, identification, classification, and target engagement. The AUV62-AT is an artificial acoustic system that mimics a submarine in a way that is compatible with any torpedo- and sonar system on the market today. The system fully replaces the use of a submarine in the role as a maneuvering training target and can be launched from a ship, a submarine, or shore. The system is in service today with a number of countries worldwide.

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Cellula Robotics has announced that it has successfully demonstrated its Imotus-1 Hovering Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). During a week of testing at a local pool facility, Imotus-1 navigated using proprietary SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) algorithms and was shown to hold station, waypoint track, maneuver around obstacles and dock to an underwater charging station. Inspection tools including point cloud map generation, high definition video, an ultrasonic thickness gauge and a light cleaning brush were also demonstrated.

The docking demonstration was sponsored by Ocean Networks Canada. This demonstration included communications between Imotus and the docking station using a blue-light modem, followed by autonomous docking. When in the dock, Imotus received power and high bandwidth communication via a WiSub pin-less connector.

Scott McLean, Director of Ocean Networks Canada, said, “This was an excellent demonstration of Canadian technology that has broad applications globally for both industry and research. Cellula Robotics has really created an exceptional platform that we are looking forward to applying in many areas. Demonstrating both wireless optical communications and contactless connectors for charging and high speed communications is an essential step to creating the next generation in hybrid AUV systems.”

Imotus-1 uses SLAM algorithms to enable navigation, station keeping, route following and autonomous operation within confined space environments. Development of SLAM was made possible through funding from the National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP).

In the first quarter of 2018 Imotus-1 will be used in the North Sea for commercial survey and inspection work inside the structural legs of an offshore platform.

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