Unmanned Systems Technology 009 | Ocean Aero Submaran S10 | Simulation and testing | Farnborough report | 3W-110xi b2 TS HFE FI | USVs | Data storage | Eurosatory/UGS 2016 report

UK research agency Qinetiq has tested a 5 m autonomous USV in a tank at its Maritime Autonomy Centre (writes Nick Flaherty). The aim of the tests is to evaluate AutoNaut’s wave foil propulsion technology at the 5 m size ahead of sea trials in Scotland in October. “This is not the first time we have had an AutoNaut in the wave tank, as we completed a major testing round with our original prototype 3 m vessels,” said Dan Alldis, design manager at MOST-AV which developed the AutoNaut. “This round of testing allowed us to validate our speed and motion scaling calculations from the previous testing, and provided us with a chance to test new wave foil configurations. We tested in wave heights up to 0.6 m and saw speeds upwards of 3.5 knots.” One key application for the craft is to act as a surveillance and monitoring station at sea. “We aim to collect further performance data in ‘real’ waves off Plymouth this summer as we go into the second phase of our surveillance capability trials,” said Alldis. The trials used Qinetiq’s Qualysis Motion Capture System to collect high- resolution speed and six-axis motion data for the AutoNaut r&d programme. New wave of tests for USV Surface vehicles The tests were to evaluate the wave foil technology used by the AutoNaut