Saronic raises $55M to develop drones for the US Navy

American company Saronic has raised funding of about $55 million to develop marine drones Corsair and scale the production of Spyglass and Cutlass. These drones are equipped with remotely updateable software and can carry a variety of payloads in environments where there is no communication or GPS. The drones are designed for autonomous navigation and decision-making in real time in the marine environment, as well as for other actions in swarm groups.

Spyglass is equipped with sensors and a compartment for a customizable payload. The drone is designed for reconnaissance and the execution of specific missions. The range of the drone reaches 30 nautical miles, the maximum speed is about 15 knots.

Cutlass is ready to move away from the carrier ship at a distance of up to 300 nautical miles with a maximum speed of up to 20 knots. The drone carries payloads weighing up to 90 kg and can act as a reconnaissance vehicle, a repeater, and even a platform for launching loitering munitions.

The key advantages of the drones are the minimal costs at all stages of the life cycle and the serious potential for scalability. The drones are designed to eliminate the bottlenecks and weaknesses of traditional American shipbuilding.

Source: therobotreport.com; image source: saronic.com

Saildrone: 48 circumnavigations, 89 years at sea

California-based company Saildrone reported a milestone - a fleet of maritime drones has traveled a total of 1 million nautical miles, and the total duration of missions has reached 32,000 days. For comparison, these figures are equivalent to approximately 48 circumnavigations and 89 years at sea per vessel.

While it may seem like just a publicity stunt, Saildrone's electric autonomous boats are actively being used in the interests of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States to collect data on climate change and to map the seabed. Saildrone's fleet consists of 136 devices of three types.

Sources: dronedj.com; image source: saildrone.com

Mocean Energy to build wave power station

Edinburgh-based company Mocean Energy has received £3.2m in European funding for a project to create a “green” energy source at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) on the Orkney archipelago in northern Scotland by 2030. The project will involve the construction of a wave power station with a capacity of between 1 MW and 2 MW based on Blue Horizon 250 devices (with a capacity of 250 kW).

Blue Horizon 250, render - Mocean Energy

Mocean Energy already has experience in creating a 10 kW prototype wave power station, Mocean Blue X. 

Blue X, photo - Mocean Energy

Blue X, photo - Mocean Energy

The interaction between Blue X and the underwater Halo battery system developed by Verlume was tested. This infrastructure provides power for Transmark Subsea’s resident AUVs.

Blue X, render - Mocean Energy

The principle of operation of the wave power station can be described as follows: a float with wave channels at the ends captures the power of sea waves. Direct drive Vernier Hybrid Machine generators convert mechanical energy into electrical energy at very low speeds.

Such autonomous wave power stations can replace diesel generator-based systems currently used, for example, on offshore platforms, in marine aquaculture, and in remote island communities. And, of course, this source of energy can be used to power underwater charging stations for resident underwater robots.

Another example is the useful tandem of surface and underwater marine robots. If, of course, the wave power station is considered a surface robot. \\

Oceaneering will acquire DriX USV for deepwater surveys

Oceaneering International, a Norway-based company that provides various underwater services, announced this week its plans to purchase its first unmanned surface vehicle (USV) DriX from Exail. DriX (youtube) is expected to be used to support deepwater geophysical surveys and asset inspections, including autonomous positioning of the remotely operated vehicle (ROV), shelf and near-shelf surveys. 

Photo:  oceaneering.com 

The use of USV is expected to help Oceaneering increase operational efficiency, reducing mission time. The USV will provide ROV positioning based on a satellite positioning system with dual independent correction using the C-NAV Oceaneering system (youtube). This will allow for longer ROV surveys without the need for intermediate resurfacing, and improve data reliability. 

The DriX USV was introduced in 2016. The vehicle is capable of autonomous operations under the control of CortiX software based on AI and modern sensors.

• Length: 7,71 m
• Width: 0.824 m
• Height: 3.2 m
• Displacement: 1.4 t
• Hull material: carbon-kevlar composite material
• Weight: 1380 kg
• Power plant: 38 hp diesel engine
• Fuel tank: 250 l (average consumption: 2 l/h)
• Propulsion: one straight shaft with one fixed propeller

It is expected that DriX will be able to work in conjunction with Oceaneering ROVs in open sea conditions up to sea state 5 without compromising data quality. 

Thus, it involves a combination of surface and underwater robots, allowing for remote underwater surveys without losing positioning accuracy.

More information about DriX: https://geo-matching.com/products/drix 

Source:  oceaneering.com