On March 6, 2020, two Saildrone USVs completed the first autonomous passage of the Strait of Gibraltar. The 31-nautical mile (58-km) passage between Europe and Africa is one of the busiest waterways in the world. The Strait of Gibraltar is only 7 nm (13 km) across at its narrowest and 23.7 nm (44 km) at its widest. Approximately 300 ships
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By Kayla Matthews Drones that fly above the ground are commonplace today. This technology is bought by hobbyists, deployed by the military and used for crop monitoring by farmers, for example. Drones in the water, on the other hand, are extremely valuable but often overlooked in the public eye. Here are four likely trends and applications for maritime drones in
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Picotech Ltd. has launched PicoPOD, a turnkey multibeam package for USVs and small survey vessels with a simple mechanical interface. It is supported by industry standard acquisition and processing software and is ideal for use in surveying ports, harbors, tidal barriers, bridge footings, dams and reservoirs. The PicoPOD system operates to a sounding depth of 240 m and has a
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NOAA scientists are launching four underwater gliders from ships off the coast of Puerto Rico to bring back data they hope will improve the accuracy of hurricane forecast models.
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Unmanned Survey Solutions (USS) has designed and built the next-generation accession-class USV for use in nearshore and offshore industries. The unique modular design of the USV allows the vessel to increase its base design length of 3.5 m to a maximum of 5 m for additional payload equipment or power for extended endurance depending on operational requirements. Built by surveyors
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Sea Hunter, an autonomous surface vessel that can patrol with no crew onboard for months at a time, recently completed a round trip from San Diego to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The ship is a 132-ft. trimaran that was developed by DARPA, built by Leidos and turned over to the Office of Naval Research last year for testing. Its purpose is
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