![]() ![]() The charge is led by the Orca Extra-Large UUV currently being built by Boeing and scheduled to be in service for 2022, and the smaller Snakehead Large Diameter UUV in 2023. Now the Navy is pushing ahead with a slew of larger uncrewed vessels to take on missions traditionally carried out by manned submarines. Navy is a leader in unmanned underwater systems, but these are mainly small UUVs for hunting and disposing of underwater mines, or for mapping the littoral area around a coastline prior to amphibious operations. Big AUVs can even carry out surveys in weather too rough for surface vessels.Īn illustration of Lockheed Martin’s orca xluuv. Rather than needing a manned surface vessel to take the robot to the right area, drop it off, and recover it, a long-range AUV can be launched from harbor and find its own way. It can avoid obstacles thanks to its onboard intelligence, and re-scan areas it might have missed, or closely investigate potential areas of interest.īut the biggest difference from existing small AUVs will be how operations are carried out. The submarine will travel up and down a swath of ocean in a lawn mowing pattern, using sonar to image the seafloor. Typical missions for large commercial AUVs will be seafloor surveys for oil and gas or deep sea mining, site inspection for offshore wind farms, and search and salvage-not so very different to existing jobs, except that the larger AUVs will work for far longer and cover larger areas. ![]() With underwater robots becoming smarter and more capable, AI opens up the possibility of scaling them up so they can roam freely and carry out much longer operations measured in weeks rather than hours. Environmental scientists explore reefs, map currents, and track wildlife.īut like many areas of tech, AI is changing everything. Archeologists use them to map out underwater remains, and commercial UUVs locate and salvage wrecked ships and downed planes. Industrial UUVs routinely map the seabed and inspect underwater infrastructure for the oil and gas industry. Most remain tethered to the mothership with a control cable so the operator can work them remotely, but AUVs can roam freely on pre-programmed missions. Operators lower them over the side of a ship to carry out survey missions with sonar, cameras, and other sensors, and recover them hours later. Dive TechnologiesĮxisting unmanned underwater vehicles, known commonly as UUVs, are small, torpedo-like craft with sonar, cameras, and other sensors. What Makes an AUV?ĭive Technologies DIVE-LD. Using large scale 3D printers, the Boston-based startup can slash costs, speed up production, and create any submarine imaginable in just a few weeks-from idea to fully-functioning prototype. “They bring an enormous payload capability and energy capacity that allows the vehicles to operate on their own in the ocean for days on end.”īut Dive isn’t using your run-of-the-mill MakerBot. “Large AUVs will change everything,” says Sam Russo, COO of Dive Technologies. They are rewriting the rules for underwater military, commercial, and scientific operations, and instead of building these water-delving behemoths in a traditional shipyard, ship makers are 3D printing them. This unassuming sub is a new breed of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, or AUVs, future subs that are bigger, smarter, and can travel farther than ever before. But a closer look at Dive Technologies' new sub reveals a quiet revolution-from how it works to how it's made. It stretches a few feet longer and can putz around the ocean a bit farther, but its bulbous torpedo-shaped design is familiar to the first robotic subs that've plied the waters for decades. At a passing glance, this robot submarine looks like any other. ![]()
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