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

32 Dossier | Maritime Robotics Mariner degree the reality will be that most missions will last from breakfast to dinner! That can be done fully electrically now. Then a range extender would provide the capability on those occasions when you need long endurance.” Greener, more autonomous future “The Mariner will now gradually become more and more autonomous, and will have better sensors to observe the environment around itself and more advanced algorithms to respond to sensor data,” Hovstein says. “It will have a strong focus on becoming more environmentally friendly and supporting different kinds of payloads.” Fortun adds that electrification and autonomy fit very well together, as electrification improves reliability and reduces the need for maintenance, further enabling long-endurance missions. With that in mind, the company is developing a new version of the USV it currently refers to as Mariner Long Endurance (LE), which will be available later this year. The LE will be a larger vessel, of about 9 m in length, with an endurance of 30 days (up from 50-60 hours for the current Mariner) and a much larger payload capacity. It will also have the option of up to three separate moon pools with elevators, enabling data acquisition from two or three different locations on the same hull. With an eye on diversification, one of the different payload types the company has in mind is cargo. The current Mariner has a payload bay with around a cubic metre of volume and which can carry about 1000 kg, and Hovstein envisages being able to carry small cargoes in business-to- business type operations around harbours and littoral areas. “If you go to any harbour in the world, most of the boats there are engaged in some kind of transport rather than data acquisition, so that market has to be much larger,” he says. He notes that many coastal areas have chains of islands that are home to small communities who have the right in law to receive postal deliveries three or four times a week, services that are difficult and expensive to provide. Norway has an average coastal wind speed of close to 20 knots, and at times it is much faster. That would restrict the safe weather window for something like a multi-copter UAV, he says, while the Mariner can sail almost every day of the year. “It’s self-righting,” he says. “It will get there and it won’t get seasick. The main limiting factor on a boat is usually the human being.” August/September 2021 | Unmanned Systems Technology Length: 5.8 m Width: 2.07 m Height: 2.0 m Draft: 80 cm Dry weight: 1.9 t (diesel version), 2.0 t (diesel-electric version) Hull material: polyethylene Propulsion: Diesel engine and water jets; electric thrusters in diesel- electric version Endurance: 50 hours at 5 knots in diesel version or 8 hours at 5 knots with generator in diesel-electric version Maximum speed: 25 knots Comms range: 30 km direct with maritime radio, global with satcom Transportation: system fits into 1 x 20 ft ISO container Some key suppliers Aquatic habitat echo sounder: BioSonics Diesel engine: Yanmar Electric thrusters: Torqeedo Fish prospecting echo sounder: BioSonics Multi-beam sonar: Kongsberg Multi-beam sonar: Norbit Single-beam echo sounder: Knudsen Sound velocity profiler: AML Oceanographic Sound velocity profiler: Valeport Underwater hyperspectral imager: Ecotone Water jet: Hamilton Jet Specifications Monolithic polyethylene is used for the Mariner’s hull and superstructure, and was chosen for ease of manufacture and maintenance, as well as resistance to corrosion and wear and tear