The Royal Navy is trialling a new remote-controlled robotic boat to survey uncharted water and gather data.
The Otter Pro, from Norwegian firm Maritime Robotics, conducted underwater survey operations at the Defence Diving School, on Horsea Island, Portsmouth controlled by the navy’s Project Hecla team.
During initial trials, the Otter Pro was able to collect sonar imagery of a number of wrecks – detailing evidence of decay and structural collapse on a sunken day cruiser, motorboat and helicopter. Its sensors also picked up swim lines and seabed erosion caused by divers.
In an hour long session, the vessel, controlled by trained RN personnel, proved its ability to deploy and gather survey information quickly and effectively – surveying an area the size of a football pitch.
Commander Graham Mimpriss, Royal Navy lead for the trials, said: “Although the Otter Pro is being operated to enable Project Hecla to refine future operating concepts of uncrewed surface vehicles in future military surveying application, it has begun to prove itself as being superior to existing portable systems.
“Using a rapid response context, this vehicle was mobilised within an hour of arrival having been transported to the site in a van. The team on its first outing surveyed Horsea Lake (7,000 square metres) in 40 minutes and then generated a viable product within an hour.
“This was achieved with a team of three without the need for a boat or jetty facilities for launching or recovery. During surveying, two of the team acted as pilot and looked out for the vehicle and the third was processing the data in near real time.
“Our existing platforms would be hard pressed to match this performance in a rapid response scenario.”
The next stage of the trials will see the Otter Pro, supplied by UK distributor RS Aqua Ltd, tested in a more complex environment and its near-real time data processing will be refined. The Project Hecla team will also further examine the Otter’s Norbit multi-beam echo sounder and different sonar systems.
