Issue 39 Unmanned Systems Technology August/September 2021 Maritime Robotics Mariner l Simulation tools focus l MRS MR-10 and MR-20 l UAVs insight l HFE International GenPod l Exotec Skypod l Autopilots focus l Aquaai Mazu

24 Dossier | Maritime Robotics Mariner business was slow but the company survived on a mixture of government research contracts and user-defined projects including converting manned boats to unmanned operation. Sonar specialist Norbit is a close neighbour of Maritime Robotics, and the two worked together on the early efforts to integrate sonars into the Mariners, carrying out verification tests, shaking the system down and writing joint white papers about the use of multi-beam sonars from unmanned vessels in shallow water. The company also developed a tethered balloon-based surveillance system for Norway’s main oil spill responder. Called Ocean Eye, the system was sold in the US and the UK as well as Norway. This was the pattern until 2015, when a significant drop in the price of oil drove the offshore industry to embrace new thinking to find ways to reduce their costs, and autonomy came to the fore. This growing interest in autonomy was reinforced by the Norwegian military’s launch of a major mine countermeasures programme, from which the company benefited through more research contracts. This intensified interest enabled the company to turn its attention to developing a hydrographic mapping capability that could be offered with the Mariner, plus a smaller vessel, the Otter, intended to be cheaper, simpler and easier to assimilate for offshore operators just getting into USVs. Hovstein regards Otter, priced at around e 50,000, as more of a bread and butter product that is intended to act as a ‘little brother’ to Mariner as a way of increasing the company’s presence in the market to prepare it for the high- end Mariner, which is priced at about e 600,000 with a typical sensor fit. He also sees the Otter as a means of honing the company’s commercial operation from taking orders to manufacturing, configuring and delivering finished USVs. The approach has proved successful. Hovstein adds that the company has sold more than 70 custom-fitted vessels, conversions and autonomous solutions of all kinds, with the Mariner itself accounting for around 10% of the total. He notes that the numbers they produce have undergone major growth recently, quadrupling over the past year, with sales of the Mariner also increasing rapidly. The Mariner is also in operation with several commercial customers around the world, using variously configured seismic and bathymetric data gathering sensor suites, and is also used extensively in scientific research. Development challenges The main challenges during development can be broadly divided into two groups. The first was centred on the rigours of the Nordic climate and rough seas, which drove the selection of a robust and proven polyethylene hull from Polar Circle that is designed to stand up to a beating and need little maintenance. The second group involved walking the line between what Hovstein calls practical solutions and more advanced ones, following the KISS protocol – ‘Keep it simple, stupid’. These solutions have tended to emerge out of feedback from the thousands of hours that the Mariners have logged at sea, and are focused on making it as easy as possible to access the engine and other pieces of equipment that might need attention. As a result, the Mariner has evolved what Hovstein calls a ‘pit stop’ approach in this respect, in which all servicing tasks are designed to be quick to complete. For example, the onboard computer system on the latest production Mariners is encapsulated in a Peli case, to make it easy for the operator to swap it out in the field and even to carry a spare as hand luggage on an airliner. The case has been modified to incorporate waterproof connectors that match up with their counterparts August/September 2021 | Unmanned Systems Technology With its rugged polyethylene hull, the Mariner is intended to operate for long periods in rough maritime environments with a minimum of maintenance I see the smaller Otter USVs as a means of honing the company’s commercial operation, from taking orders to delivering them