Unmanned Systems Technology 015 | Martin UAV V-Bat | William Sachiti | Sonar Systems | USVs | Desert Aircraft DA150 EFI | SeaCat AUV/ROV | Gimbals

44 Insight | USVs needed though as the other elements of unmanned fishing, namely actually handling the fishing nets, have not been successfully addressed yet. In 2015, Google patented a semi- autonomous net that could be used with such a trawler. It consists of a towable mesh held open by one or more hydrofoils that maintain either a consistent height over the seabed or a predetermined depth in the water. Quite how this could be integrated with a trawler though is still under development, and still requires a crew. Another use for USVs in the fishing industry is for fish farm support, as illustrated by a new design of autonomous vessel being developed by UK company Automated Ships Ltd (ASL) and built by Kongsberg Maritime. ASL is the primary integrator, project manager and owner of the vessel called the Hrönn , which will be built during 2018. The only impediments to operating a large autonomous USV are regulatory, says ASL, and it is working with Norwegian agencies the DNV and the NMA on research and testing so that it can be first on the market with a full-size unmanned ship.  The project is taking 16 months for the design and fabrication, six months for sea trials in 2018 and 2019, and three months for updates and improvements before receiving its certification to operate in 2019 as a remotely operated vessel. Partners include ASL’s parent company M Sub, in the UK, which is also working on the Mayflower autonomous sailing boat. “The advantages of unmanned ships are manifold, but primarily centre on safeguarding life and reducing the cost of production and operations,” says Brett Phaneuf, managing director of ASL. “Removing people from the hazardous environment of at-sea operations and re-employing them on shore to monitor and operate robotic vessels remotely – along with the far lower cost of constructing ships – will revolutionise the marine industry.” As well as supporting offshore fish farming, the vessel will be used for offshore energy, and scientific and hydrographic applications, initially as a remotely operated vessel in the North Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and West Africa. At the same time, the control algorithms for fully automated operation will be refined so that they can be implemented by 2020. Kongsberg is supplying all the dynamic positioning and navigation, satellite and position reference, marine automation and comms systems. The control systems, which include the company’s K-Pos dynamic positioning, K-Chief automation and K-Bridge ECDIS, will all be replicated at an onshore control centre, allowing full remote operations of the Hrönn. The vessel is expected to be built by Fjellstrand, a Norwegian shipyard that specialises in aluminium high-speed ferries and which built the world’s first battery- driven car ferry, the Ampere, in 2016. The Hrönn ’s design evolved from an aluminium catamaran when the project was launched in November 2016, moving later to a steel monohull. That will provide more payload capacity and greater flexibility in the range of operations, and this has led to interest from Bourbon, which runs offshore oil and gas services and monitors the French coastline for the French Navy to prevent pollution and rescue sailors in trouble. The Hrönn will be tested at the recently opened Trondheimsfjord test site in Norway. The site also hosts the Autosea project that is developing situational awareness technology using sensor fusion algorithms to reduce the risk of collisions between ships and vehicles. To improve detection capabilities on small objects and provide better coverage at close range, the Autosea project is also combining data from existing maritime radar with visible and infrared (IR) cameras, and Lidar laser sensors. Transportation Development of even larger unmanned vessels is also underway. Rolls-Royce and global towage operator Svitzer have successfully demonstrated the world’s first remotely operated commercial vessel in Copenhagen harbour, Denmark. In early 2017 a 28 m tug called Svitzer Hermod  safely conducted a number of remotely controlled manoeuvres. The captain, operating from a remote base at Svitzer headquarters nearby, berthed the vessel alongside the quay, undocked, turned 360° and piloted it to the August/September 2017 | Unmanned Systems Technology The evolving design of the ‘Hronn’ will provide a remotely piloted craft that will have full autonomous operation in 2020 (Courtesy of Kongsberg Maritime)