Uncrewed Systems Technology 048 | Kodiak Driver | 5G focus | Tiburon USV | Skypersonic Skycopter and Skyrover | CES 2023 | Limbach L 2400 DX and L 550 EFG | NXInnovation NX 100 Enviro | Solar power focus | Protegimus Protection

98 Once the GCS is started up and connected, the waste collection net attached and a visual check of the USV carried out, the system can be launched. Unlike in the UAV world, Lee says, neither NXInnovation nor its customers have faced any particular regulatory hurdles in using the USV. “The net is attached to the hull by two bungee cords on the back and two more at the front,” Buckley notes. “Each one has a simple clip to fasten or unfasten the net between forays, making turnaround and downtime quite fast so that you can get back out to the water and keep on cleaning. “You can even do it while the USV’s still in the water, as it has a handle on the front for holding it still with one hand and grabbing the clips with the other.” The Enviro at work As the Enviromoves around, the net or boomwill induce some drag. Although that means its top operating speed is 2m/s, anything higher than that would be counterproductive for safe litter gathering. The electric thrusters are typically operated at 350 W, on a 16 V input, and their differential thrust minimises the turning radius to resolve the wide turning problem encountered early in development. That means the USV can turn tightly around boat hulls and hence avoid ‘missing a spot’ while cleaning. For safety amid other marine traffic, an orange beacon on the hull flashes to warn approaching boat operators to slow down or take avoiding action, and a Lidar unit with a 10 m effective detection range is integrated on the front for autonomous collision prevention. If a moving obstacle that is larger than the Enviro and which does not conform with map information is detected, the Lidar triggers the Cube Orange to send a braking command to the thrusters until the obstacle has passed. “We could do some programming to have the USV try to navigate around the obstacle, but then we’d need to install predictions of how the traffic’s going to move,” Buckley adds. “It’s much simpler to just let the humans on the water react to the warning light and judge where they can go without having to worry about the USV blocking them as they speed, turn or reverse. “The Lidar is a Benewake TFmini Plus, and it performs well, but the best thing about it is that it’s waterproof. Even a small swell is enough to drench the Enviro, and it isn’t easy to find waterproof Lidars.” While autonomous navigation is achieved through GNSS, a video camera currently sits at the front of the USV for transmitting a live feed of HD video to the GCS operator over a 5.8 GHz link. The aim of course is to allow the operator to determine as and when they might need to take manual control. This integration offers the potential for further autonomous capabilities. February/March 2023 | Uncrewed Systems Technology A video camera is installed at the front of the Enviro 100 for transmitting live HD video to the operator over 5.8 GHz Maintenance between Enviro 100 operations consists largely of cleaning it, performing a battery swap and cleaning or replacing the net