Large AUV Recovery
It is currently a very special time for SEA-KIT International.
Our amazing piece of Autonomous Ocean-going technology has not only been delivered but amazingly she has arrived on time and on-budget too!
SEA-KIT is an industry changing piece of technology designed to not only autonomously map the world’s oceans, but also provide a platform for a huge range of mission possibilities in a wide range of sectors.
Testing and developing any new and ground-breaking concept can often be a fraught affair, but in this case it has been a calm and controlled process which has produced some remarkable achievements.
This week has seen the first time that a large Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) was able to be recovered by an unmanned vessel and demonstrated an ability that many have put on the “too difficult” pile. This is a remarkable achievement.
When developing advanced capabilities, you never quite know how things will go, so when you see something just do exactly what it was designed to do it is a huge relief!
Huge thanks must go to Hushcraft Ltd who designed and built SEA-KIT so successfully, Ocean Floor Geophysics who own and operate the HUGIN AUV and Kongsberg Maritime who have provided the K-MATE autonomy controller.
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SEA-KIT™ Testing Programme Commences
SEA-KIT International launched the first of the SEA-KIT class of vessels the USV MAXLIMER on the 1st September 2017 and have completed initial sea trials in the U.K before moving to Horten, Norway to commence the AUV launch, tracking and recovery programme.
This phase of testing will demonstrate SEA-KIT’s ability to act as an AUV mothership and encompasses a full testing programme with the Kongsberg Maritime Hugin AUV.
SEA-KIT is working with Kongsberg Maritime, Hushcraft, Ocean Floor Geophysics and the GEBCO-Nippon Foundation Alumni team to demonstrate the capability to autonomously map large areas of the ocean floor in a short period of time. The current goal is to map 100 sq.km at 2000m water depth in a 24hr period at high resolution. This includes the data capture and analysis.
USV MAXLIMER heading out for AUV Testing in Horten, Norway.
This capability is due to be demonstrated during the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE.
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Kongsberg Maritime Press Release – Aug 9th 2017
Kongsberg Maritime: Kongsberg K-MATE Autonomy Controller for New USV-AUV Platform
Press Release • Aug 09, 2017 12:16 BST
Kongsberg, Norway, 9th August 2017 – K-MATE, an autonomous surface vehicle control system, the latest marine robotics innovation from KONGSBERG, is to be integrated with SEA-KIT, a new class of Maritime Autonomous Surface Vessel being built by UK manufacturer, Hushcraft, and operated by SEA-KIT International.
SEA-KIT is a USV that can carry a deployable and retrievable payload of up to 2.5 tons. It is based on the AUV-USV concept, which could lead to more efficient, safer and cost-effective seafloor mapping operations, as well as providing a platform for numerous applications in a wide range of maritime sectors.
The SEA-KIT vessel provides a next generation, long-range, long-endurance ocean capability that does not exist today. It is able to operate without assistance for months at a time and is the first of a new generation of craft that can truly operate independently.
K-MATE is capable of being integrated with almost any vessel via an electrical interface. It provides adaptive waypoint following for survey and AUV operations while accepting sensor data for scene analysis and collision avoidance. K-MATE is an autonomous system designed to follow mission plans, in addition to providing global supervised operations or even direct operator control for complex tasks.
K-MATE is the common autonomous control engine to be used by unmanned and autonomous vessels delivered by Kongsberg Maritime including the fully electric container feeder; YARA Birkeland. It has been developed by the Kongsberg Maritime Subsea Division in Horten, Norway in conjunction with FFI, the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment and is the result of a long and fruitful history of joint development projects, including the HUGIN AUV System.
In addition to the K-MATE autonomy controller solution, SEA-KIT will be equipped with Kongsberg’s Maritime Broadband Radio (MBR) for high bandwidth direct communication to shore, SeaPath 135 with an MRU5+ for heading, attitude and positioning and the AIS300 Automatic Positioning System. KONGSBERG’s HiPAP acoustic positioning and control system will be used to supervise AUV operations.
SEA-KIT’s two-system AUV-USV configuration provides the unique ability to carry a Kongsberg HUGIN AUV. In parallel with these AUV capabilities, SEA-KIT’s hull is designed to have different payloads installed including KONGSBERG’s proven range of multibeam echo sounders such as the EM302. SEA-KIT also has extended endurance options, making it the first autonomous boat capable of trans-ocean survey operations.
SEA-KIT is due to be launched this September. Its first task is to compete in the $7 million Dollar Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE, a global competition with the aim of advancing deep-sea technologies for autonomous, fast and high-resolution ocean exploration. It will be managed by the GEBCO-NF Alumni Team, led by alumni of The Nippon Foundation/General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) Postgraduate Certificate in Ocean Bathymetric Training Programme, run at the Centre for Coastal and Ocean Mapping at the University of New Hampshire, USA – now in its thirteenth year. All alumni hold positions in their own countries’ maritime industries. GEBCO is the only organisation with a mandate to map the entirety of the world’s ocean floors.
The Nippon Foundation, Japan’s largest private philanthropic foundation with a long history of involvement in maritime issues, has agreed to provide more than US $3 million to assist with concept development and the design of new technology to be utilised in the semi-final stage of the competition by the GEBCO-NF Alumni Team. The Chairman of The Nippon Foundation, Mr Yohei Sasakawa, recently launched NF-GEBCO Seabed 2030 – with the challenge to map the world’s ocean floors by the year 2030.
SEA-KIT has been built by Hushcraft in the UK. The GEBCO-NF Alumni Team will utilise a HUGIN AUV which has been provided by Ocean Floor Geophysics and the data work flow and data processing development to meet the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE requirements is being undertaken with assistance from Teledyne CARIS.
Ends
For further information, please contact:
Katharina H. Nygaard
Kongsberg Maritime
Tel: +47 3303 4100
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