Page 18: of Marine Technology Magazine (June 2014)

News

AUVs are Central to Lisbon Security Program

Two Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), specifi cally developed for the SUPPORT (Security UPgrade for PORTS) project, an integrated four-year research and development project, partially funded by the European Commission’s FP7

Security Research Program, were demonstrated at the Port of

Lisbon on May 22. Coordinated by BMT Group Ltd. (BMT),

SUPPORT has been exploring the use of AUVs to help address the issue of underwater threats in ports, reaping from the ex- pertise which was drawn from the recent SHOAL project. In partnership with Bristol Robotics Laboratory and SonarSim,

BMT has designed a cost effective prototype which utilizes in- telligent algorithms and behavior in order to leverage as much as possible from low-cost sensors. “A common issue with security solutions and AUVs is the high cost of systems, therefore it was important for us to look at ways of designing a low cost solution which could help im- prove overall port security,” said Luke Speller, Senior Research

Scientist at BMT Group. “A distinct differentiator is the AUV’s ability to multitask. Not only will it be possible for the AUV to provide 24-hour surveil- lance and monitor port infrastructure for particular threats such as UIEDs (Underwater Improvised Explosion Devices), ports around the world could potentially use this intelligent machine to monitor pollution, conduct radiation testing or inspect the hull of a ship.” www.supportproject.info 18 MTR

June 2014

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