ONR turns to academia for Marine Robotics Testbed development
The Office of Naval Research in the US is looking at how to improve the performance of remotely operated underwater vehicles. (Photo: HII)
The University of California San Diego will help the USN to improve autonomous or remotely operated oceanographic sampling techniques.
The US Office of Naval Research has enlisted the University of California San Diego (UCSD) to assist in its Marine Robotics Testbed programme, the DoD announced on 12 January.
Work on the $20.34 million contract — competitively procured by the ONR under an October 2020 Long Range Broad Agency Announcement — is scheduled to be completed by 11 January 2027.
‘This contract provides for the continued development of state-of-the-art improvements and evaluations of unmanned systems and in situ ocean sampling systems,’ the DoD stated.
It added: ‘This line of effort will continue to improve oceanographic sampling techniques and methods. Planned experiments will collect data to define best practices for practical applications of sciences.’
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