Office of Naval Research Showcases Abilities of Autonomous Boats
A recent demonstration arranged by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) showed that autonomous unmanned swarming boats were capable of executing and completing patrol missions in a large area of open water.
The boats that participated in the exercise were able to communicate with each other and delegate certain tasks during their patrol missions, thanks to the Control Architecture for Robotic Agent Command and Sensing (CARACaS) technology installed upon them.
During the missions, rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIBs), in combination with other boats, were responsible for patrolling an assigned area. When an unknown vessel entered that area, the boats worked together to assign a boat to approach the vessel, and determine whether or not the vessel was harmless or suspicious.
The boats also communicated with each other to determine which boats would track and trail the vessel, while the other boats continued monitoring their area. Status updates were provided by the boats to a human supervisor throughout the process.
“This demonstration showed some remarkable advances in autonomous capabilities,” Cmdr. Luis Molina said in a press release. Molina is the military deputy for ONR’s Sea Warfare and Weapons Dept.
“While previous work had focused on autonomous protection of high-value ships, this time we were focused on harbor approach defense.”
The first demonstration of the CARACaS technology took place in 2014. The original technology allowed for RHIBs to interact with other unmanned vessels, swarm to thwart potential enemy ships, and escort naval assets.
Upgrades to the CARACaS technology since its initial test now give multiple unmanned surface vehicles the ability to work together to allocate tasks, and there has also been an advancement in automated vessel classification from imagery.
“This technology allows unmanned Navy ships to overwhelm an adversary,” Molina said. “Its sensors and software enable swarming capability, giving naval warfighters a decisive edge.”
