NAVAL DRONES

by Kenneth A. Stewart, NPS Naval Postgraduate School Research Associate Tad Masek, left,  Research  Associate Professor Douglas Horner, center,  and  Research  Assistant  Professor Noel Du Toit, right,  are pictured  on the frozen surface  of  Pavilion Lake,  British Columbia with two   of the Autonomous Underwater  Vehicles (AUV) that they are using to conduct  experiments on  AUV operation in extreme, under-ice environments.   Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Research Associate Professor Douglas Horner and Research Assistant Professor Noel Du Toit recently returned from remote Pavilion Lake, British Columbia where they investigated Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) operations in extreme, under-ice environments. “The Navy is very interested in our ability to work under the ice using autonomous vehicles,” said Horner. Pavilion Lake is located some 250...

One of the more pressing technical challenges with today's unmanned underwater vehicles is maintaining an accurate navigational position.  Because GPS signals will not penetrate the water's surface, UUVs typically rely on inertial navigation systems and periodic trips to the surface to gain an accurate satellite fix. Aquanauts with REMUS AUV - NPS Photograph Bathymetric navigation, or finding one's ways through the contours of the sea floor, has been a tool used by mariners - both surface and subsurface - since the advent of sonar.  But accuracy was hampered due to inaccurate underwater charts and the processing limitations. Advances in sensors and computing may change these dynamics as explored in Ensign Jacob T. Juriga's recent  Naval Postgraduate School Thesis . Juriga's research focused on terrain aided navigation (TAN) through a series of autonomous vehicle trials near the Aquarius Underwater Research Station located in Islamorada, Florida.  There,...

Changing operational and environmental factors will drive future unmanned naval systems away from remote operation and towards autonomy.  Today, a man-in-the loop is generally required to re-task platforms as the weather deteriorates, operational priorities shift, or maintenance problems occur.   Automation will allow dynamic retasking to take place without human intervention. Additionally, u nmanned systems will increasingly operate beyond line-of-sight from their controllers and in areas prone to GPS or other electronic jamming, spoofing, and interference by adversary forces.    Moreover, as noted in t he U.S. Air Force’s 2010 Science and Technology Roadmap, autonomous vehicles will enable “operational advantages over adversaries who are limited to human planning and decision speeds.”   Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) require automation for the reasons mentioned above plus the simple fact that normal methods o...