SBIR-STTR Award

Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) are being developed for mine hunting operations to provide more effective mine detection and neutralization at lower risk to than conventional mine hunting methods. Although UUVs show promise, they must be small and highly maneuverable, which limits their range and mission duration. An Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) can carry several mini-UUVs into an area of operations, thereby significantly increasing the on-station time of the UUV by eliminating the requirement to expend power to travel to the operational area. The USV can also provide an on-site station for recharging batteries. Bluefin Robotics Corp. intends to partner with Brooke Ocean Technology Ltd. (BOT) and proposes to develop a system capable of automated launch, recovery, recharging, and data transfer for small UUVs that are deployed from USVs. Bluefin's expertise with UUVs, including mini-UUVs, vehicle guidance and docking systems and BOT's expertise with UUV/USV launch and recovery and automation creates a team that is well qualified to complete this project

The US Navy will use growing numbers of unmanned autonomous vehicles to perform a variety of functions including mine surveillance and subsurface mapping, particularly in connection with missions for the Littoral Combat Ship. These functions are often performed by deployment of sensors, sources and arrays from organic offboard vehicles (OOVs). During Phase I of this project, Bluefin Robotics Corp. (Bluefin) and Brooke Ocean Technology Ltd. (BOT) conducted a study to developing and evaluating innovative concepts for automated launch and recovery (L&R) systems for the deployment of multiple mini-UUVs from USVs, and for deploying Towed Sensor, Source and Array Systems (TSSAS) from USVs. In this Phase II (Base plus all Options), Bluefin and BOT propose to combine their collective expertise to build, test, demonstrate and evaluate at-sea performance of a "full scale" multi-functional prototype UUV Launch & Recovery system and TSSAS Deployment & Recovery system based on the most effective concept designs developed by the team to date. These L&R systems include provision for unattended recharge of UUV energy systems while onboard the USV, and for transferring of data between a USV and its multiple mini-UUVs.

Benefit:
The proposed program will result in a deployment and retrieval system that will maximize the capabilities of the USVs, and thereby extend the operating range and effectiveness of surface host vessels. The ability of the USVs to deploy, tow and recover a range of mini-UUVs, sensors, sources and towed arrays will reduce the logistical constraints of carrying a separate deployment and recovery system for each type of payload. The common deployment and retrieval system will reduce complexity and amount of equipment, resulting in weight and cost savings, along with reduced training and operational activities.

Keywords:
USV, Unmanned Undersea Vehicles, UUV, Organic Offboard Vehicle, Deployment and Retrieval, OOV, unmanned surface vehicle