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

66 has created a simulated autonomous ship control system that allows the behaviour of the complete comms system to be explored,” says Oskar Levander, vice-president of innovation for marine systems at Rolls-Royce, which is part of the project. “We will see a remote- controlled ship in commercial use by the end of the decade.” The sensor arrays are being tested on the Stella, a 65 m double-ended ferry that operates between Korpo and Houtskär. The sensors include radar, thermal cameras and Lidar sensors to help with navigation and collision avoidance. Surveillance BAE Systems has been working with ASV in Portsmouth on technology that can be fitted to existing rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) like those already used by the Royal Navy, to create a USV that is capable of operating autonomously for up to 12 hours at a time on either a pre- planned route or via remote control. The USV includes a navigation radar, a 360º panoramic infrared camera array and a laser rangefinder, to allow the craft to operate autonomously at speeds of up to 38 knots. The control software was developed by ASV, and the next stage is to create the sensor suite before integration with the combat management system on the parent ship. “The algorithms we’re developing with BAE Systems give the boats the flexibility to operate in a number of different tactical roles, whether it’s patrolling areas of interest, providing surveillance and reconnaissance ahead of manned missions or protecting larger ships in the fleet,” says Dan Hook, managing director for ASV. The boats will be able to operate beyond line-of-sight up to 40 km away from their parent ship, and the technology is designed as a retrofit to the manned Pacific 24 RIB already deployed across Type 23 frigates and Type 45 destroyers; they will also go on to the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers once they enter service. As well as being completely autonomous they can also be controlled remotely by crew on land, from the ship via a handheld controller. Scientific monitoring One way autonomous systems are being used to get around marine regulations is as weather buoys. For example, MOST (AV) in the UK has been using its AutoNaut platform as an autonomous buoy for the Meteorological Office. MOST worked with Plymouth Marine Laboratories to put a set of weather sensors from the Met Office onto its 3.5 m long pre-production boat, Iona. “From our perspective we are looking to assess whether an unmanned surface vehicle can be used to make reliable measurements of the same quality as a moored weather buoy, and whether USVs could offer an alternative to operating moored buoys,” says Jon Turton, head of marine observations at the Met Office. The sensors are the same as those used on buoys in the ocean to provide data for weather forecasting, including wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, air humidity and temperature, and sea temperature. The Met Office trial aimed to find out what the differences are between data from a moored buoy and from a small boat circling in the same area. One difference is the height of the sensors, as on a buoy they are 3 m above the surface but only 1.5 m high on the Iona system. However, this can easily be August/September 2016 | Unmanned Systems Technology AutoNaut has been trialled by the UK Meteorological Office as an alternative to moored weather data buoys