Unmanned Systems Technology 027 l Hummingbird XRP l Gimbals l UAVs insight l AUVSI report part 2 l O’Neill Power Systems NorEaster l Kratos Defense ATMA l Performance Monitoring l Kongsberg Maritime Sounder

96 Digest | Kongsberg Maritime Sounder Lidar to create a threat-priority list. That determines the degree of avoidance taken by the USV around different types of boats and other objects, and the behaviour it takes in looping back around to cover any potential gaps momentarily left in the pre-planned survey route.” Kongsberg’s SeaNav 300 GNSS provides the main position and heading data for the craft (while also logging velocity accurate to 0.25 kph), with inertial measurement data coming from a Kongsberg MGC-R3 IMU. This unit is integrated into the Kongsberg Sunstone inertial navigation system. A range of correction or processing options are available. For example, with DGNSS or SBAS correction, the USV’s position is accurate to 1.2 m. Comms systems The standard comms set-up on the Sounder uses Kongsberg’s Maritime Broadband Radio, which has a range of about 50 km, a bandwidth of 16.5 Mbit/s and operating at about 5.5 GHz. If that link happens to drop, an Iridium satellite link is installed as a back-up. The Iridium bandwidth will not be enough for transmitting the live camera feed (unlike the 5.5 GHz link) or any other key mission data, but still enables simple commands and updates on the Sounder’s status and its subsystems. For example, the operators could use it to bring the Sounder back within radio range. That satellite comms system has its own battery pack so that, if the Sounder’s engine or generator fails, it can continue to transmit commands and its GNSS position for at least 72 hours, or more if the operator reduces the Iridium’s update frequency. The end-user can then find the craft and pilot it back or arrange to have it retrieved, depending on whether just the generator or the whole engine system has gone down. The radio and satellite data link systems are mounted on the aforementioned mast, and the company is looking at adding 4G, VSAT and Inmarsat links, to expand the Sounder’s comms capabilities and redundancies. “The latter two would also give greater bandwidth than Iridium, and VSAT in particular would open the door to live HD BVLOS video feeds,” Kristoffersen adds. The future In addition to future updates in the vehicle’s comms, Kongsberg Maritime will be examining how COLREGs evolve in response to the advances made in vessel autonomy. With several nations and marine autonomy companies developing maritime collision avoidance, marine autopilots might eventually need to conform to standards that many different authorities can agree on. August/September 2019 | Unmanned Systems Technology Length: 8 m Beam: 2.2 m Height: 2.3/4.4 m (mast down/up) Draft: 0.7 m Weight: 4200 kg Propulsion: 93.2 kW (125 hp) Top speed: 12 knots Maximum endurance: 20 days (at 4 knots) Payload power: 4 kW (at 4 knots) Some key suppliers Hull design and manufacturing: Viking Norsafe CFD services: CFD Marine GNSS and INS: in-house Autopilot: Simrad Autonomous control: in-house Engine: Steyr Lidar: Velodyne Radar: Simrad Camera: FLIR Sonars: in-house Data link: in-house Additional technological research and consultation: FFI Specifications The mast atop the Sounder acts as a mount for Kongsberg’s Maritime Broadband Radio, an Iridium satellite system, a Simrad radar and a FLIR camera