Auvsi News

The AR5 Life Ray UAS, developed by TEKEVER, has been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to demonstrate the first European maritime surveillance system where drones are integral to operations. The first demonstration will be performed this summer over the Maltese waters of the Mediterranean sea, said Pedro Sinogas, TEKEVER CEO, at the AUVSI Xponential show in New Orleans, La. Maritime operations have been brought into focus in Europe by the unprecedented migrant crisis.

TEKEVER will present at Xponential/AUVSI its new vessel detection capabilities for its UAS product lines. Available for TEKEVER’s AR3 and AR4 product lines, the new capabilities allow for an increased effectiveness of the systems in multiple types of maritime missions. Automatically detecting vessels from visual images at sea presents multiple technical and operational challenges, such as highly dynamic background, sun reflections and even dealing with the sky/sea contrast. Although the presence of a small vessel can usually be seen in an image…

The UAS producer TEKEVER is launching at Xponential-AUVSI, a new version of its AR3 Net Ray shipborne UAV with an increased payload weight capacity to allow integration of maritime radar. According to the developer, the new UAV is suited for a number of missions, including wide area autonomous surveillance of large maritime and land areas, with onboard multi-sensor pattern detection, as well as multi-mission support, including border protection, fire surveillance, communications support, and environmental, infrastructure and pipeline monitoring.

The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, MS, and the Mississippi Regional SeaPerch Committee in mid-May hosted the Fourth National SeaPerch Challenge on the campus of Southern Miss. It was here that 108 teams of 451 middle and high school students – students from 19 states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and for a first time ever, and international team from New Zealand – convened at the University’s Payne Center and Johnson Natatorium for a weekend of competition and fun.

MSHIPCO introduce the Mistral USV a smaller sized craft with the same great stability, payload and patented M-hull Technology® of its predecessor 'Stiletto' combined with state-of-the-art C2 control and modular cargo handling system. The company says that its Mistral USV is more than just an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) sentry, it’s a modular unmanned “naval truck” designed specifically for hauling and towing large payloads with a simple, user-friendly control interface.

VectorNav Technologies launch the VN-200, high-accuracy GPS-Aided Inertial Navigation System (GPS/INS) on a surface-mount chip the size of a postage stamp. Combining an advanced GPS module with the latest in MEMS inertial and pressure sensor technology, the patent-pending VN-200 provides a coupled position, velocity and attitude solution that is robust to a wide range of static and dynamic operating conditions. The release of the VN-200 GPS/INS marks a significant advancement in the field of inertial navigation. Over the past few decades, the size, weight, power, and cost constraints of typical GPS/INS systems have greatly limited the type and number of end-use applications.

Students studying science, technology, robotics or engineering can put their knowledge and skills to the test at the Student Autonomous Underwater Challenge – Europe. Held since 2006, the SAUC-E competition challenges the next generation of engineers to design and build an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) capable of performing realistic missions. “The event is designed to encourage students to think about underwater technology and related applications while fostering innovation and technology…

The theme of the 4th International RoboBoat Competition, sponsored by The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Foundation and the Office of Naval Research (ONR), was “The Four Elements.” Teams of students designed and built autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs) that faced challenges involving earth, air, fire and water. The competition was held at The Founders Inn and Spa, Virginia Beach, VA, June 8-12, 2011 and included 15 teams representing colleges and universities around the world.

Xsens, a supplier of 3D motion tracking systems, signed an agreement today with Sagem (Safran Group) for the supply of advanced sensor fusion signal processing modules for integration in a new line of inertial system products from Sagem. Sagem chose Xsens after a careful technology and supplier selection process. As part of the supply agreement, Xsens has customized its proven 3D motion tracking sensor fusion algorithms to take full benefit of Sagem’s advanced Coriolis resonating gyros and high grade silicon accelerometers. Building on the XKF-3™ sensor fusion algorithms for 3D orientation estimation, Xsens is delivering a custom DSP module which outputs very accurate vertical reference values, even in dynamic situations.

College Students from the United States and Canada will bring their robotic boats to Virginia Beach to compete for up to $20,000 in prize money. The event, the second International Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) Competition, is being sponsored by the U.S. Office of Naval Research and the Washington, DC-based Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Foundation. The competition will occur June 18-21 at the Founder’s Inn and Spa in Virginia Beach. The small lake on the resort’s property will be turned into the site of a simulated shipwreck of a ferry boat with passengers awaiting rescue. The student-built boats will be challenged to navigate a treacherous series of dangerous reefs and dock with the sinking ferry to rescue the passengers.

A team of students from the University of Central Florida (UCF) Robotics Laboratory took first prize at AUVSI and the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR)’s First International Autonomous Surface Vehicle Competition (ASVC), held Aug. 7-9 in San Diego, Calif. The first competition of its kind brought together students teams from the U.S. and Canada. Six undergraduate student teams competed for three days at the U.S. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center’s TRANSDEC Facility, where they were challenged to navigate a surface-water course with autonomous vehicles built with off-the-shelf components. The ASVC is a student competition based on unmanned boats operating under rules of the waterway including littoral area navigation, channel following and autonomous docking.

The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SSC) hosted the 11th Annual International Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition at Naval Base Point Loma in , July 28-Aug. 3. The event was co-sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). The competition challenged young engineers to design and build autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV). It also encouraged contestants to consider a career in developing AUV technologies for the Navy. "Competitions such as this are a huge benefit to the Navy," said Capt. Mark Kohlheim, commanding officer, SSC San Diego. "There is a large interest in unmanned vehicles, and these competitions serve to put the theoretical into practical applications for the students involved.