Unmanned Systems Technology 018 | CES show report | ASV Global C-Cat 3 USV | Test centres | UUVs insight | Limbach L 275 EF | Lidar systems | Heliceo DroneBox | Composites

36 Dossier | ASV Global C-Cat 3 USV station for a fraction of the cost of a typical RTK system,” Daltry says. It does not need a dedicated comms link, as the data is encapsulated in the Ethernet packets and sent over the standard wi-fi link. Advanced autonomy ASV is also developing what Daltry terms significantly more advanced autonomy. “The challenge with this size of vessel is that it doesn’t yet host the types of sensors we need for advanced autonomy [big radars and large camera arrays], but I think there will be opportunities for things like Lidar, which are very light and compact. Another option is near-field high- frequency radar, of the type used increasingly to trigger automatic emergency braking in cars. The C-Cat 3 has a mounting point for such a sensor ready for when the software the company is developing for it is fully developed. ASV took this approach because radars developed for the automotive industry are very cost-effective and therefore compatible with the vessel’s target price. “That’s the most immediately obvious sensor we would put on, possibly followed shortly by a Lidar, so you would end up with a combination of the two,” Daltry says. The company is also developing optical collision avoidance systems for its larger vessels based on deep learning software that can detect and recognise objects in camera imagery. It will combine this with range information from a Lidar or a radar. This technology is currently bulky and power-hungry, so it is not suited to small USVs. Daltry is confident though that the electronics will get smaller, cheaper and more frugal with power, so it will trickle down to being used in smaller and cheaper vessels. Advanced autonomy is about more than collision avoidance; it can make survey work more efficient. For example, tracking along a wall to conduct a close- in survey can be done under manual control or by drawing a line connecting waypoints on the user interface map, but an algorithm that makes use of sensor feedback would be much better. “This kind of path planning could easily be brought down to a vehicle like this, just with slightly different sensors and processing,” Daltry says. ASV is three years into an advanced autonomy development programme using several external sources of funding. “A human operator can look at their radar and AIS feed, and make sensible decisions, but we are looking to do that with a computer.” That has involved driving vessels autonomously but with people aboard to comply with regulations, through the Solent, the stretch of water between ASV’s Portsmouth base and the Isle of Wight. “It’s still at the r&d stage but we can navigate to the other end of the Solent completely hands off, which is quite exciting.” Short snag list Development is complete, but there is a short list of tweaks and refinements to be carried out. One is to provide the electrical and antenna connections at the stern with a little more physical protection in case of knocks, and a second is to standardise on one size of assembly bolt to attach the hulls and the gondola to the cross-beams. There are two sizes at the moment, which Daltry regards as an oversight. These changes aside, he is confident that the C-Cat 3 is ready for the market, and the company plans to concentrate on sales for a few years before contemplating a Mk2 version. “It’s very dependent on the feedback and sales response, but I’m pretty positive about this,” he says. “We feel we’ve got very close to what we wanted in the first hit.” February/March 2018 | Unmanned Systems Technology A technician installs a battery, whose terminals are the only connectors needing tools, although an alternative to that is planned (Author’s image)