Unmanned Systems Technology 018 | CES show report | ASV Global C-Cat 3 USV | Test centres | UUVs insight | Limbach L 275 EF | Lidar systems | Heliceo DroneBox | Composites

24 I n developing the C-Cat 3, ASV Global wanted to offer a small multi- purpose USV capable of doing a full day’s survey work in relatively shallow coastal and inland waters. It had identified an opportunity for something intermediate in size between its C-Worker family, the largest of which are 12 m long and operate in the open sea for days or weeks at a time, and the much smaller short-endurance electric hydrographic and geophysical survey tools from other companies. The result is a 3 m electrically powered catamaran that weighs 340 kg fully loaded. It consists of two shallow-draft hulls that contain the propulsion system and support a gondola on the cross-deck between them. It can operate for long periods (seven or eight hours, or more with a battery swap) while cruising at 4 knots with the occasional ‘sprint’ at up to 8 knots, carrying a payload of about 50 kg. “In essence, this is a day-long running survey USV,” technical director Richard Daltry says. The idea is that a customer can put it on a small trailer or a big pick-up truck and take it to relatively inaccessible places, or where having a lot of people on the water is not desirable. In this kind of location, Daltry says, it is also easier This twin-hulled survey vessel puts simplicity and an entry-level price point to the fore. Peter Donaldson explains how it was developed The KISS philosophy February/March 2018 | Unmanned Systems Technology ASV Global chose a catamaran configuration for its inherent stability as a sensor platform and its natural division into hull and gondola modules for on-site assembly (Courtesy of ASV Global)