Loggerhead Cloud Technologies - Mission planning and monitoring capabilities for Uncrewed Underwater Systems

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Robots have long been utilised for subsea inspection and maintenance in the offshore energy industry. Launching robots at sea is challenging - managing vessel motion, weather dynamics and the significant weight of large maintenance class robots requires large vessels with complex lifting equipment. The associated cost and carbon footprint limits the value and environmental benefits of subsea robotics, in-turn impacting the growth of emerging ocean sectors. Although smaller Uncrewed Surface Vessels (USVs) have emerged as a potential solution, deploying large robots from them is not feasibleHonuWorx's project aims to create the cloud-based mission planning and monitoring platform for Loggerhead. It serves as the principal user interface for the entire system, and to assure robust over-the-horizon operation it must enable operators to plan missions intuitively and monitor the system with varying degrees of communication availabilityThe Loggerhead approach is superior to crewed and uncrewed surface vessel deployment because (1) it is a less capital intensive system, (2) offers a step change reduction in operations costs and emissions and (3) the system stays subsea during navigation and working at site, which in turn enables all-weather operation, eliminates splash-zone deployment risks and simplifies regulatory compliance.Loggerhead offers an economically viable and sustainable way to scale subsea robotic operations to support existing and emerging blue-economy sectors.By reducing the cost of subsea operations by up to 50% and removing emissions, Loggerhead supports the sustainable growth of vital sectors such as offshore renewable energy which must be profitable without subsidy and despite challenging margins. The project is an opportunity to extend the UK's leadership in the energy transition and the development of supporting robotic technologies.