by Mark
Ollig
We have
autonomous, self-directing drones flying in the sky, so why not have
autonomously controlled ships traversing the oceans of the world?
The good
folks at the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, better known
as DARPA, in cooperation with the US Navy, work in a program called:
Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV).
This
program unites autonomous technologies with a sonar system, mine-sweeping
technology payloads, and anti-submarine warfare tracking capabilities.
They
added all these technologies within a prototype naval ship’s operating
platform.
The
newly-built ship is an advanced surface vessel designed for mission durations
lasting months, and covering thousands of miles – without requiring a human
crew onboard.
This
unmanned, independently-operating craft includes collision-avoidance software.
It is
designed to maneuver and perform complicated missions using what DARPA calls a
“sparse remote supervisory control model.”
A human
operator is able to monitor, control, and send course destination commands
remotely to the ship via a satellite communications link, as well as
line-of-sight radio.
The $20
million prototype was first placed in the water near its construction site in
Portland OR, Jan. 27.
The US
Navy and DARPA officially christened this new, 132-foot autonomously operated,
robotic prototype naval vessel April 7.
The ship
was given the name Sea Hunter.
It’s
equipped with radar and cameras, and is able to search for enemy submarines;
however, it is unarmed if it does come across one.
Sea
Hunter includes an Automated Identification System, which is able to detect and
identify any vessel over 300 tons, broadcasting its position and
classification.
The ship
weighs about 140 tons under a full load displacement (including 40 tons of
fuel), and is powered by two diesel engines.
Sea
Hunter is capable of reaching speeds of around 31 miles per hour (or 27 knots
for our yacht-sailing readers).
Future
technology “on-ramps” have been taken into account, allowing future-designed
sensors and technological payloads to be added to Sea Hunter’s software
architecture, and its autonomy system.
Yours
truly was not invited to Portland to attend Sea Hunter’s christening ceremony,
so I watched DARPA’s recorded video highlights of the event.
This
ceremony was performed in front of about 100 invited guests, including senior
US Navy and government officials.
“What
we’ve created together with the Navy is a truck that can carry more payload
over greater distances, stay out longer, be more capable than anything else,
and do it highly autonomously because it’s a big vessel and it’s got that
flexibility,” said Scott Littlefield, DARPA program manager for ACTUV.
Rear
Admiral Robert Girier, director, Unmanned Warfare Systems, said the Sea Hunter
“heralds the look and shape of things to come.”
“Now, we
can actually start exploring with the Navy what really can be possible, when
you have an unmanned vessel of this sort,” said Arati Prabhakar, DARPA
director.
US
Deputy Secretary of Defense, Robert Work said this is the first time the US
Navy ever had a “totally robotic, trans-oceanic-capable ship.”
Sea
Hunter represents an “incredible innovation,” he added.
Work
suggested autonomous ships signify; “A human-machine collaborative battle fleet
that will confound our enemies.”
During
the ceremonial christening, a bottle of (non-alcoholic) champagne was broken across
the bow of the impressive-looking Sea Hunter, by Arati Prabhakar.
“It’s my
privilege and honor to christen thee Sea Hunter!” she proclaimed before
striking the front part of the ship with the bottle.
The
ship’s short-term testing will temporarily include having a human being onboard
as a back-up, to ensure the autonomy system is performing correctly.
The
testing of Sea Hunter’s capabilities is planned to last through 2018.
Sea
Hunter will incur daily operating expenses totaling $15,000 to $20,000, based
upon a cost model Scott Littlefield mentioned during an April 6 press briefing.
DARPA
posted a video to YouTube showing Sea Hunter cruising in the water near
Portland at: http://tinyurl.com/bitsSeaHunter.
A photo
of Sea Hunter can be seen here: http://tinyurl.com/bits-darpa1.
Check
out this amazingly detailed DARPA time-lapsed video showing the construction,
walkthrough, and brief voyage of Sea Hunter:
http://tinyurl.com/bits-walkthrough.
Here’s a
high-quality DARPA video showing Sea Hunter’s maneuverability testing on the
water as seen from the air: http://tinyurl.com/seahunter2016.
DARPA’s
official website is: http://www.darpa.mil.
Follow
my autonomously posted messages on Twitter using the @bitsandbytes handle.
