© Fraunhofer CML
At the Fraunhofer CML, autonomous research vessels are being built and deployed for the exploration of underwater landscapes. Camera systems and various sensors create images of riverbeds and seabeds, ship hulls or quay walls through the modular design of the carrier system in conjunction with an underwater robot. Work tasks are transmitted to the ships by radio and the recorded data is transmitted ashore.
The catamaran SeaML:SeaDragon is characterised by its modular design and the sensor technologies to advance research in the field of autonomous systems. The technologies are intended to support research in the areas of obstacle avoidance, target tracking, autonomous docking, and controlling the craft with the aid of augmented reality.
The USV was also designed to function as a carrier vehicle for smaller unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROV). This fleet of vehicles will be used in research to provide services that are still carried out by a human operator today. Examples of duties in which such craft will be employed are ship and bridge inspections.
Learn all details from the review at Baird Maritime!
Fraunhofer Center for Maritime Logistics and Services