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

Israeli underwater robots win sustainable fishing contest

The University of Haifa has developed a swarm of low-cost underwater robots that can be used to prevent overfishing and harm to marine ecosystems

The robots coordinate with each other to acoustically detect and estimate fish populations. This technology has the potential to help ensure the sustainability of fisheries around the world.

The project was awarded a grant from Schmidt Marine Technology Partners, a program of the Schmidt Family Foundation led by former Google CEO Eric and his wife Wendy Schmidt. The Schmitts awarded a total of $3.5 million in grants to 10 organizations and universities around the world that are working to develop new technologies to protect the ocean.

The University of Haifa's project is one of many examples of how innovative technologies are being used to address the challenges facing the ocean today. By developing new ways to monitor and protect marine ecosystems, we can help ensure a healthy and sustainable future for the ocean. 

National Science Foundation to fund $1.5 million project to develop underwater robot swarm for studying ice shelves

A team of researchers from Oregon State University will lead a three-year, $1.5 million project to develop and test an underwater robot swarm for studying ice shelves. The robots will be able to collect critical data on the size of ice cavities and the properties of the surrounding environment.

The project is funded by the National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs. The project aims to advance underwater research in enclosed and difficult-to-access environments, such as cavities beneath ice shelves.

Image source: WVU researcher helping to deploy robots underwater (kolotv.com) 

Working in water under ice is particularly challenging, as communication in these conditions is difficult and there is no direct access to the surface to retrieve a submarine robot. Scientists need robots that can enter these spaces and then return safely.

The working concept is a system that includes a large underwater mothership that carries and can deploy a swarm of small AUVs, which can disperse and explore the waters beneath a melting ice shelf or in other difficult-to-reach locations. The robots will be able to operate autonomously and make decisions based on the surrounding conditions.

The project will involve the development of a system for deploying and retrieving the swarm of small AUVs from the mothership, the development of equipment and protocols for communication and positioning in underwater conditions, and algorithms for navigation and decision-making that allow the robots to adapt their behavior and data collection to the conditions they encounter.

Over the next three years, researchers plan to conduct a series of tests in water, including tests in a frozen lake in Oregon.

If the challenge can be solved in the most challenging underwater environment, the development could be effectively used in a number of other conditions, such as in coastal waters, where a swarm of small AUVs could be effectively used for sampling.

Rover technologies are already well known for aerial and terrestrial environments, but off-the-shelf solutions do not work in underwater-underice environments.

The research team also includes Phil Landrigan from Brigham Young University; Atsushi Muto from Temple University; Nicholas Ripkema from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; Yu She from Purdue University; and Si Yu from West Virginia University.