Shearwater: The future of hybrid autonomous marine vehicles
The term Autonomous Marine Vehicle (AMV) is intended to encompass an entire class of systems operating in the marine environment. The concept is to view autonomy accomplishing work in the maritime environment as a system and not discrete elements. We are witnessing autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) vertically integrating with an autonomous surface vehicle (ASVs) that are integrating with an autonomous aerial vehicle (AAVs) and including satellites as well as cellular networks. The same is true horizontally. Multiples of each vehicle type are currently working in unison with some developing swarms.
The transition from manned to autonomous vehicles (AMVs) in ocean applications has advanced tremendously over the last few decades, with these systems making in roads into operating arenas that previously were only accessed by remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). Prior to AUVs, ROVs displaced operations that were previously accomplished by manned submarines. However, at each step of advancing these technologies there has been resistance. That resistance has slowed progress and cost money.
Today, we still deploy and operate the majority of these ocean-going systems from the most costly of platforms, the manned ship. Shearwater has recently broken resistance and is in development to remove the ship and combine the aerial, surface and sub-surface systems into a single platform. Shearwater is a new type of vehicle that we hope will take it’s proper place in the AMV systems community.