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10 Platform one December/January 2018 | Unmanned Systems Technology A start-up in Boston is testing technology that can be fitted to existing boats or built into new ones to provide them with autonomous operation (writes Nick Flaherty). Sea Machines Robotics is testing the system with two companies in the US and one in Denmark. The companies are engaged in cleaning up oil spills and surveying to keep nautical charts up to date, which requires high levels of accuracy. The system uses common modern navigation instruments for positioning and perception, including DGPS, AIS, radar and camera-based vision with off-the-shelf computer systems running software developed by Sea Machines engineers. All the autonomous system components are mounted in a standardised stainless steel IP67 electrical enclosure, although rack-mounted configurations are also available. It is controlled via a graphical user interface called Talos that enables real- time local and remote vessel telemetry and data feed, as well as navigation route Maritime Robotics has updated its PX- 31 unmanned fixed-wing aircraft with a number of capabilities aimed specifically at users carrying out operations in high northern latitudes (writes Rory Jackson). “Winds, humidity and icing can cause unmanned missions to be grounded and cancelled, so for example we have been developing icing protection systems, which we intend to add to the PX-31,” said Tor Arne Johansen, coordinator at the MarineUAS programme and planning. The system also comes with a remote control industrial joystick. In autonomy mode, a user can plan and execute tasks such as waypoint tracking, search or survey grids, or collaborative tracking of another vessel. This also includes a first generation of obstacle and collision avoidance algorithms that conform to the professor at one of its partners, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), which is using the PX-31 to train researchers. The icing protection technology is based on an electro-thermal system architecture that allows specific areas of the airframe and body to be heated. Through autonomous algorithms, potential icing is estimated and either mitigated or prevented, depending on what the system considers to be best. The PX-31 can carry payloads of up to International Maritime Organization’s Colregs and ‘rules of the road’ for vessel interactions. The first company to use the system commercially is Tuco Marine of Denmark, which is offering remote and autonomous operation as factory options in its line of ProZero boats that are based around carbon fibre hulls. 7 kg. With a standard mission weight of 17 kg it can fly at up to 162 kph (cruising speed 90 kph) and has a typical range of 100-140 km. Trondheim-based Maritime Robotics is currently developing electric and hybrid versions of the UAV, with up to 1.5 and 12 hours of endurance respectively. Also being developed for the PX-31 is a recovery system using a net suspended from two multicopters, to catch the PX- 31 and lower it to handlers on deck if it cannot use a landing pad or hook. Unmanned vessels Airborne vehicles The technology uses common modern navigation systems and off-the-shelf computers Autonomy for any boat UAV updated to Arctic spec