Unmanned Surface Vessels for Rapid Environmental Assessment in challenging inland waterways and tidal environments

使用负担得起的小型无人水面舰艇(USV)作为环境调查的遥感平台，与现有的绘制浅水环境图的技术相比，有望获得重大收益。高流速、不可预测的流向、浑浊和航行危险或障碍物会给传感器平台造成困难的操作环境；安全卫士Nautica开发了微型快速环境评估船(MREAV)-一种易于携带的USV，具有嵌入式动态定位控制系统、任务规划系统和冗余推进配置，旨在为水文和潜在用户提供扩展能力，这些用户在江河、河口和内陆沿海环境中进行水上现场调查对他们的日常工作至关重要。极端和具有挑战性的环境中的机器人与人工智能(RAI)演示器的第一阶段，使联盟能够将主要任务规划和嵌入式控制系统集成到mREAV USV中。第二阶段后续项目将在这一初步进展的基础上，利用一系列水声、摄影测量和用户定义的传感器有效载荷，在各种静水、河流、河口和开阔水域环境中对两个完全集成的无人地面系统进行广泛的测试。与用户社区的后台合作伙伴的密切磋商将确保在为期两年的项目中反复优化平台的有效开发反馈。在第一阶段，与用户社区的咨询揭示了mREAV为动态内陆环境提供的价值主张和技术解决方案可能在高能波浪和潮汐工作场所具有重要的进一步适用性。在第二阶段，除了继续开发和测试mREAV外，还将开发一个更大的开放水域变种，共享子系统，以便在沿海/近岸环境中运行。REAV将在英国潮汐试验场完成两项环境调查活动，为监测针对成本敏感型潮汐能源部门的调查以及近岸水域内的其他海洋可再生能源应用提供经过验证的成本削减倡议。通过同时操作mREAV和REAV无人机；第二阶段测试计划还将展示运营这两种无人机的扩展能力，通过在英格兰西南部的一次特殊演示测试中进行协作来提供继电器/射程扩展。总的来说，在项目期间持续提供的操作测试将与最终用户密切合作，提供持续的开发反馈、设计改进和生产力改进和调查采购成本的验证演示。“

"The use of small, affordable Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs) as remote sensing platforms for environmental surveys promises significant gains when compared to established techniques for charting shallow-water environments. High current velocities, unpredictable flow directions, turbidity and navigational hazards or obstructions can create a difficult operational environment for sensor platforms; and often a hazardous environment for surveyors.Safeguard Nautica has developed the micro-Rapid Environmental Assessment Vessel (mREAV) - a readily portable USV with an embedded dynamic positioning control system, mission planning system and redundant propulsion configuration with the intent of providing extended capabilities for hydrology and prospective users for whom waterborne site investigation in riverine, estuary and inland coastal environments is essential to their day-job.Phase 1 of the Demonstrator for Robotics & Artificial Intelligence (RAI) in Extreme & Challenging Environments, enabled the consortium to integrate the main mission planning and embedded control systems into the mREAV USV. The Phase 2 follow-on project will build upon this initial progress by delivering extensive testing of two fully integrated unmanned surface systems on real-world campaigns within a variety of still water, riverine, estuary and open-water environments using a range of hydro-acoustic, photogrammetry and user-defined sensor payloads. Close consultation with background partners from the user-community will ensure validated development feedback to optimise the platform iteratively during the two-year project.During Phase 1, consultation with the user community has revealed the value proposition and technical solution offered by mREAV for dynamic inland environments could have significant further applicability within high-energy wave and tidal work sites. In Phase 2, alongside continued development and testing of mREAV, a larger open-water variant with shared sub-systems will also be developed to operate in coastal / inshore environments. The REAV will complete two environmental survey campaigns at a UK tidal test site, providing a validated cost-reduction initiative for monitoring surveys aimed at the cost sensitive tidal energy sector, and other marine renewable energy applications within inshore waters. By operating the mREAV and REAV USVs together; the Phase 2 test plan will also demonstrate the extended capability of operating both USVs to provide relay / range extension through collaborative working at a special demonstration test in South West England.Collectively, the spread of operational testing delivered continuously during the project will provide continued development feedback, design improvement and validated demonstration of productivity improvements and reduced survey acquisition costs, in close cooperation with end-users."