US-based companies Marine Advanced Robotics and Planck Aerosystems have established a strategic alliance to provide a multi-domain robotic team that includes an unmanned surface vessel (USV) equipped with a small unmanned aircraft system (UAS) that operate together for advanced mission profiles.
The partners said the UAS-USV combination will have broad applicability in the maritime sector. Applications include offshore infrastructure inspection (such as inspections of wind turbines and oil platforms), patrols of marine protected areas and exclusive economic zones (EEZs), and defence and security use cases.
The UAS 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. The USV can meanwhile 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 as an enabling capability to all customers in the fourth quarter of 2021.
