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Leidos Completes At-Sea Testing of Prototype Maritime Autonomy System for future ACTUV

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Naval Defense Industry News - USA
 
 
 
Leidos Completes At-Sea Testing of Prototype Maritime Autonomy System for future ACTUV
 
Leidos, a national security, health, and engineering solutions company, completed a total of 42 days of at-sea demonstrations of the prototype maritime autonomy system designed to control all of the maneuvering and mission functions of DARPA's Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV). Using a 32-foot work boat as a surrogate vessel, Leidos installed autonomy software and sensors to mimic the configuration intended for an eventual full-size ACTUV prototype.
     
Leidos, a national security, health, and engineering solutions company, completed a total of 42 days of at-sea demonstrations of the prototype maritime autonomy system designed to control all of the maneuvering and mission functions of DARPA's Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV). Using a 32-foot work boat as a surrogate vessel, Leidos installed autonomy software and sensors to mimic the configuration intended for an eventual full-size ACTUV prototype.
The Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) is developing an unmanned vessel optimized to robustly track quiet diesel electric submarines.
(Picture: DARPA)
     
According to the U.S. Navy, 43 nations operate more than 600 submarines; the steady increase in undersea vessels makes tracking a challenge. Raytheon's Modular Scalable Sonar System (MS3) will integrate into SAIC's prototype trimaran vessel as the primary search and detection sonar. The system is designed to provide search, detection, passive-threat filtering, localization and tracking capabilities without requiring human operation
     
Leidos, a national security, health, and engineering solutions company, completed a total of 42 days of at-sea demonstrations of the prototype maritime autonomy system designed to control all of the maneuvering and mission functions of DARPA's Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV). Using a 32-foot work boat as a surrogate vessel, Leidos installed autonomy software and sensors to mimic the configuration intended for an eventual full-size ACTUV prototype.
The surrogate vessel upon which testing was just complete. Picture: Leidos
     
The Leidos strategy to evaluate the prototype ACTUV autonomy system for COLREGS compliance includes both simulation and at-sea testing. The team has completed approximately 26,000 simulation runs of the system. Testing of COLREGS involves the ACTUV surrogate and one interfering vessel in a variety of meeting, crossing, overtaking and transit scenarios in both simulation and on the water test events.

During a recent on-the-water test event, the surrogate boat autonomously navigated through narrow channels avoiding navigation aids and submerged hazards. The boat safely avoided surface ships it encountered along the route, satisfying COLREGS requirements in completely unscripted events.

While continuing to use the surrogate vessel to test ACTUV software and sensors, construction of Sea Hunter, the first ACTUV vessel, continues at Christensen Shipyard in Clackamas, Oregon. Sea Hunter is scheduled to launch in late summer 2015 and begin testing in the Columbia River shortly thereafter.
     
Leidos, a national security, health, and engineering solutions company, completed a total of 42 days of at-sea demonstrations of the prototype maritime autonomy system designed to control all of the maneuvering and mission functions of DARPA's Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV). Using a 32-foot work boat as a surrogate vessel, Leidos installed autonomy software and sensors to mimic the configuration intended for an eventual full-size ACTUV prototype.
Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV). Picture: Leidos