The US Navy has awarded unmanned systems developer Aquabotix another contract for work on its micro swarming unmanned surface vehicle (USV) project.
The Australian-listed and Massachusetts-based unmanned vehicle company has received a total of US$70,000 to further develop its SwarmDiver concept.
This initial development project will conclude with a testing and demonstration to various US Navy personnel.
The system will be tested at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport’s Narragansett Bay test facility.
“This is a second project involving SwarmDiver and the United States Navy, in the last seven months,” Whitney Million, Aquabotix’s chief executive officer, commented. “This development contract will provide greater flexibility in the systems’ use while maintaining the benefits of conducting an unmanned mission. We look forward to demonstrating this transformative technology advancement.”
The SwarmDiver USV is capable of diving to 50 meters and swarming in groups of 40 or more vehicles. The swarming algorithm allows vehicles to communicate with each other to make decisions as a group. According to the company, the SwarmDiver is capable of quickly and accurately self-arranging in various swarm formations as well as dive simultaneously to collect synoptic data sets.
A video shared by the company shows the SwarmDiver concept in action.