Industry creates robotic team comprising UAS and USV
WAM-V with small UAS. (Photo: Marine Advanced Robotics)
Solution from Californian companies blends unmanned naval and aerial capabilities
Marine Advanced Robotics and Planck Aerosystems claim to have created the first ‘multi-domain robotic team’ combining UAS and USV technologies.
Marine Advanced Robotics and Planck Aerosystems have established a new strategic alliance that includes an unmanned Wave Adaptive Modular Vessel (WAM-V) equipped with a small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) that operate together for advanced mission profiles.
Previous cooperation between Planck Aerosystems and Marine Advanced Robotics included collaborative multi-domain deployments for USN base security.
Mark Gundersen, CEO of Marine Advanced Robotics, claimed the new sUAS-USV combination, designed to operate together for advanced mission profiles, ‘will enable greater situational awareness for multiple applications’.
Potential uses include maritime security and naval operations in the open ocean as well as offshore infrastructure inspection, the two companies announced on 9 August.
The sUAS is powered by the Autonomous Control Engine from Planck Aerosystems. It can be operated remotely as a push-button capability, which includes autonomous launch and recovery, as well as automatic securing and recharging while not in flight.
Marine Advanced Robotics claims the USV can travel long distances unsupported, even in high sea states, and can host additional sensors above and below the water.
The combined system is currently in trials for early customers. It will be offered to customers in Q4 2021.
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