Asview News

Austal USA Advanced Technologies is working with the US Navy on technical solutions that will power the next-gen of navy assets. Don Hairston recently took the helm of the AAT team, and discusses how additive manufacturing and artificial intelligence are powering the future of naval asset design, construction and lifecycle maintenance.Don, what specifically attracted you to the position as GM of Austal USA Advanced Technologies?I liked Austal USA as an up-and-comer; it offers tremendous growth opportunities.

An unidentified "leading integrated oil and gas company" recently took delivery of an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) from  L3Harris Technologies, a USV designed to help out during oil spill response operations.C-Tug 3 is an 11-ft. USV  outfitted with L3Harris' ASView control system,a system designed to enable USV remote operations from a land-based control station. C-Tug 3 is designed to execute pre-programmed mission plans and real-time teleoperation via a remote touch screen unit. Once deployed, the USV can tow an oil containment boom into position to prevent the spread of any contaminants.

While the adoption of unmanned/uncrewed surfaces vessels (USVs) was initially in defence, use of these low footprint systems has spread into other sectors, not least survey, and now the race is on for greater capability, endurance and autonomy. Elaine Maslin reports.After starting small, in inland waterways, use of USVs for survey operations has moved into coastal and now offshore waters. Given the extensive amount of seabed and rapid growth in offshore wind, there’s plenty of work out there for them to do.With the travel restrictions posed by Covid and increasing awareness of climate change…

L3Harris Technologies said it has received a contract from the U.S. Navy for the Medium Unmanned Surface Vehicle (MUSV) program. The $35 million initial award is part of a $281 million program that includes a prototype and options for a total of nine MUSVs. The program is the Navy’s first for a USV to support the Navy’s Distributed Maritime Operations strategy.L3Harris will integrate the company’s ASView autonomy technology into a purpose-built 195-foot commercially derived vehicle from a facility along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana.

L3Harris Technologies delivered a new class of Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) with advanced capabilities to serve the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy.The Maritime Autonomy Surface Testbed (MAST) 13 is a 13-meter (41-ft.) long high-speed system capable of fully autonomous navigation. The ASV uses L3Harris’ ASView proprietary autonomous control system and advanced algorithms developed for the U.K.’s Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).Designed, built and commissioned by L3Harris’ Unmanned Maritime Systems team based on the south coast of the UK…

L3 ASV has announced the successful delivery of a long-endurance autonomous vessel known as the C-Enduro to the Royal Navy. The C-Enduro will be used for military data gathering trials by the Mine countermeasures and Hydrographic Capability (MHC) program as the Navy seeks to exploit autonomous technology.The 4.8-meter autonomous vessel is equipped with 10 sensors combining scientific and hydrographic survey equipment. The vessel operates using L3 ASV’s proprietary control system…

L3 ASV announced the completion of a series of demonstrations at the Australian Defense Showcase, Autonomous Warrior 18.In support of the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), L3 ASV operated a 9-m vessel outfitted with autonomous navigation capability for reconnaissance, interdiction and patrol tasks.The vessel, dubbed MAST-9, operated in fully autonomous mode, including COLREG aware collision avoidance, navigating the waterways at speeds of up to 40 knots, for over 80 hours, across the two-week event.

Thomas Chance founded C & C Technologies in his home in 1992. Today C & C is a global oil field surveying and mapping company with more than 550 employees in ten offices worldwide. C & C was the first company in the world to offer autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) survey services to the oil industry and remains a world leader in the field. In April of 2015, he sold C & C Technologies to Oceaneering International. Complementing the autonomous underwater vehicle business, Mr. Chance started Autonomous Surface Vehicles, Ltd., or ASV, in 2010. ASV has 140 employees, four offices across the globe and has built more than 100 state-of-the-art unmanned boats for the defense and commercial sectors.

U.S. shipbuilder Metal Shark has joined forces with autonomous vessel technology developer ASV Global to introduce a range of high-tech autonomous vessels.The Louisiana based shipbuilder said it is now offering autonomous technology called Sharktech on its entire portfolio of custom configurable vessels for military, law enforcement, fire rescue and the full spectrum of applicable commercial markets, which range from 16’ to over 300’ in aluminum, steel and composite.“The industry has watched and waited as autonomous technology has matured from its fledgling stages…

ASV Global (ASV) is leading a new £1.2 million research project in partnership with BMT to enhance the safety and reliability of autonomous navigation. The project team will use deep learning machine vision systems trained with a combination of simulated and real world data. Part funded by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, this project will enhance situational awareness enabling the USV to operate in extreme and congested marine environments. The Synthetic Imagery training for Machine Vision in Extreme Environments (SIMVEE) project will build upon ASV’s existing, COLREG cognisant, autonomous collision avoidance and path planning capability. The project will use BMT’s REMBRANDT simulator to train and validate ASV Global’s vision algorithms to detect and classify objects at sea.

ASV Global said it has converted a 26ft hydrographic survey launch to enable it to operate autonomously using the ASView control system, while maintaining its ability to operate in a conventional manned mode. The launch, which is part of the Canadian Coast Guard’s (CCG) fleet dedicated to the survey operations of the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS), will be used as a test platform for unmanned survey work. This delivery to the CHS marks ASV Global’s 10th unmanned conversion of a customer vessel using the ASView system.

ASV Global has announced it will be demonstrating its C-Worker 5 Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) at the Ocean Business exhibition in Southampton, 4-6 April 2017. Designed, built, and operated by ASV Global, C-Worker 5 is the ideal platform to support construction and survey operations in combination with cutting-edge hydrographic, positioning and communication systems from leading manufacturers such as Kongsberg Maritime. The 5.5m ASV is designed for up to 7 days endurance at survey speeds of up to 7 knots, minimising launch and recovery operations and increasing survey efficiency. C-Worker 5 will be hosting a variety of Kongsberg Maritime systems during the demonstration, including EM2040P, Seapath 130, MicroPAP and Maritime Broadband Radio.

ASV Global and TerraSond have completed a 5172 nautical mile hydrographic survey in the Bering Sea, off Alaska. TerraSond used the C-Worker 5 Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) alongside its Q105 survey ship for a duration of 36 days. The C-Worker 5 completed 2275 nautical miles of survey lines operating as a force multiplier, running parallel survey lines to the Q105. Both vessels ran multibeam sonars and simultaneously towed side scan sonars. The C-Worker 5 was operated using ASV Global’s ASView control system from a control station on the Q105 vessel. ASView used exported survey lines from the TerraSond planning system to autonomously execute an accurate survey with minimal human intervention.