Harbor Wing AUSV can sail into the sunset all by itself

Autonomous seafaring vehicles may not be quite as common as unmanned land or air vehicles, but Harbor Wing Technologies looks to be doing its small part to change that, with it now apparently pretty far along in the development of its self-named Autonomous Unmanned Surface Vehicle (or AUSV). Among other things, it employs a specially-designed "WingSail" that can rotate a full 360 degrees to let the vessel maneuver efficiently upwind or downwind, and it uses a custom-made guidance system that can relay vital navigational and situational data to a "semi-portable" command station, which can apparently also be used to pilot the vessel in a pinch. Be sure to head on past the break for an interview with Harbor Wing's Ken Childress courtesy of Engineering TV, which also includes a glimpse of the current prototype in action.

[Via Engineering TV]

[Tim @ Aug 11th 2008 2:01PM]

I LIKE CATS

[whowhatme @ Aug 11th 2008 2:02PM]

yes, but can it survive pirate attacks?

[inteller @ Aug 11th 2008 2:22PM]

or a bad ocean storm for that matter.

[OneLove @ Aug 11th 2008 2:44PM]

ken has a scary smile at 3:55

[YR @ Aug 11th 2008 2:24PM]

I hope there's solar panels all over to power the motorized actuators. would suck to be in middle of Pacific and run out of juice.

[anticlimate @ Aug 11th 2008 2:59PM]

The energy source is discussed in the second film. I watched it but won't reveal :) .

[Chris in Red Stick @ Aug 11th 2008 3:08PM]

Watch the demo: it is covered with photovoltaics and can pack generators as well.

Hope this moves into the recreational realm, too.

[required @ Aug 11th 2008 3:01PM]

also, they better be self cleaning as the salty water can rapidly build up quite a hazy film, they should look into supplementing with a small wind turbine or tidal generator.

[William @ Aug 11th 2008 5:13PM]

They say it has photovoltaics now, but wait till the department of defense gets a hold of it and tinkers. When these babies finally hit the waters they will most likely have a modified minature nuclear chamber; able to go for up to 20 years without refuling, and have some sort of weapon system to ensure that whatever it encounters it will win

[LondonConsultant @ Aug 11th 2008 2:53PM]

I thought the video was going to show a glider crashing into a boat.

[Sierran @ Aug 11th 2008 3:39PM]

I just shared a train with the head of this company and had an excellent chat about this vehicle and technology. In answer to YR, the boat trails a screw-driven generator to provide power to recharge its batteries although there's no reason you couldn't put solar panels on it. It's pretty impressive; they're planning a three-month autonomous test deployment out of Hawaii using the next prototype the HWT X-3. That boat will be a trimaran for better stability, as well as incorporating hydrofoils for improved performance.

There's nothing that prevents this propulsion tech from being applied to larger vessels, and indeed HWT is working with various powered-ship operators and manufacturers to add airfoil systems to both existing and new-build ships not only to replace but in most cases to augment powered propulsion. Their testing and calculations, they say, indicate that they can offer fuel savings of up to 50% for short-haul, high-speed vessels such as ferries.

The Airfoil HWT X-1, the boat in the demos linked above, apparently can come to within approximately 15-17 degrees of the wind from either side and sail effectively. In addition, since the airfoil is linked to the boat only at the swiveling base, there are no stays or rigging required, making the operation much simpler especially for a computer-controlled vessel.

I'm excited to see where this system shows up! Maybe if Larry Ellison had waited a bit, his computer-controlled sailing yacht might have done better to use this!

[sierran @ Aug 11th 2008 3:41PM]

Chris in Red Stick: They're actively seeking business in the recreational space, although I don't know what size vessels.

[BatteryAcid @ Aug 11th 2008 4:30PM]

Yea, cuz everyone hates boating.

jk I know it's intended for research and I'm sure it would be useful on a larger scale for industrial boats.

[Zach @ Aug 11th 2008 9:40PM]

Autoboats anyone? Yes? No?....

Yes?...


...


No?

[aaron @ Aug 11th 2008 10:40PM]

sail boats have had auto pilots that link to gps and chartplotters for going on 2 decades now.
since the early 80s you could buy autohelm, tiller pilot which is now owned by raytheon/raymarine.
these aren't high-dollar novelty items, either. most sailboats, even daycruisers, have them on board as a 'virtual crew member'. they can be as simple as 'hold a course' down to following a plotted course with turns, tacking, etc.

that, combined with wind-vane (basically sail-link-to-tiller) means that you basically don't have to do anything... now nothing takes the place of a watchful eye and general awareness, it does free you up to do other things such as go to the bathroom, have a coffee or cook...
these solutions have been in place for a LONG time and are extremely effective and affordable...

[topherator @ Aug 13th 2008 11:17AM]

Wing sails are pretty neat. Dave Hubbard made the whole multi-element wing thing happen in C Class catamarans back in the 70s.
Check out http://www.cclass.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=28 and scroll down for what are arguably the fastest in-shore course racing sailboats ever built. Like Sierran said, they can sail ridiculously close to the wind, because wings don't stall out like a soft sail at extreme angles of attack. I'm a little bit surprised by the hydrofoils, or rather the thought of keeping it flying by itself, and it'll be interesting to see how they control them.