Spatial Integrated Systems Inc. (SIS), an engineering design and development company, has announced the extension of its USV Swarming program under the auspices of the Office of Naval Research (ONR).

According to SIS, USV Swarm 2019 will be the first integrated heterogeneous eight USV Swarm of autonomous Very Small (class 1) and Small (class 2) USVs. The USVs will conduct a coordinated mission. 

The goal of Swarm 2019 is to showcase the utility of very small and small, inexpensive USVs that can be produced in large numbers quickly, SIS says. 

“We're at a fascinating moment in Naval history. Autonomous systems are emerging as pivotal capabilities on, under, and above the seas,” explains SIS Technical Director, Carl Conti.

“SIS is facilitating breakthrough in this space by leveraging our decades of operational and technical expertise specific with autonomous technologies and missions, and we're driving to ensure this advantage is America's own.”

SIS says that it is the lead integrator and demonstration lead for Swarm. Its notable preceding demonstrations include Swarm I and Swarm II. Conducted in 2014, Swarm I demonstrated the ability for five USVs to perform as a team, under one operator, without safety riders or remote control. This was a “first for the US Navy,” according to SIS.

Swarm (2016) built on those cooperative behaviors by demonstrating a different unmanned mission with four USVs.

SIS notes that during an event last year, it successfully demonstrated cooperative autonomous behaviors amongst USVs during a live demonstration with larger ships.

“These achievements are a dramatic step forward in America's continuing dominance of the maritime battlespace,” SIS says.

In partnership with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), SIS adapted the intelligent autonomous technologies used by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Program to meet the requirements of the US Navy.

The company says that its expansion of intelligent autonomous capabilities for United States defense clients is “accelerative,” and reflects its rapid advancement of autonomous systems.