Page 44: of Marine Technology Magazine (May 2020)

FEATURE Subsea Defense maintain. On our latest REMUS 300 vehicle, we introduced feld-swappable, environmentally sealed batteries in sev- eral sizes that allow the user to quickly get the vehicle back in water in a confg- uration that meets their mission profle.

We have also maximized the use of com- mon parts and assemblies throughout the

REMUS Technology Platform, reducing logistics and total ownership costs for our customers.”

In addition, he said the company is con- stantly on the lookout for new options to shorten the cycle between data collec- tion and putting the data to use. “Recent- ly, we integrated an in-mission processor onto a REMUS 600 with high-resolution interferometric synthetic aperture sonar (HISAS). This processor compresses the imagery as it’s collected, reducing data offoad times when the vehicle returns,” said Fotheringham. “This is ideal for time-sensitive missions like mine coun- termeasures, where faster data access means safer, more effcient operations.”

Arguably the greatest challenge today, still, lies in the ability to fnd and deliver increasingly robust power supply. “We anticipate that improvements in safe, reliable, long-endurance energy sys- tems over the next few years will have signifcant immediate impact on UUV capabilities,” said Fotheringham. “The physical endurance of a UUV is much greater than the energy systems that cur-

The REMUS Family: rently power them, so increasing the en-

From top to bottom, the ergy density on a vehicle pays immedi-

REMUS 100, REMUS ate dividends. This supports the longer, 300 and REMUS 600 more complex missions discussed previ-

HISAS.

ously. A vehicle designed from the bot- tom up to be modular and fexible, like the REMUS 300, can make use of any of these energy system improvements as they come online.”

There are many developments ongoing to bring new, safe battery chemistries, fuel cells and other hybrid energy sys- tems to the UUV domain. “These can be integrated over time to increase the endurance of an existing vehicle through spiral upgrades, using our well-defned hardware and software interfaces,” said

Fotheringham.

Photos: Hydroid May 2020 44

MTR