Page 52: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (December 2017)

TECH TALK

MUM’s the Word

New UUV Takes Shape in Germany

Project manager Marc Schiemann (left) and Design engineer Hendrik Wehner.

MUM @ a glance

Name Large Modi? able Underwater Mothership (MUM)

Diving Depth 5,000m

Target Delivery 2025

Partners Thyssenkrupp ATLAS ELEKTRONIK EvoLogics Berlin Technical University University of Rostock

As the world of autonomous vehicles ? ourishes on land and in the air, subsea applications have proven more challeng- ing, despite great strides in recent years to deliver fully autonomous, ef? cient systems at sea. A team of engineers from

Germany, engineers teamed from indus- try and academia, are aiming to drive the subsea vehicle market further faster courtesy of a project known as the Large

Modi? able Underwater Mothership, or

The Large Modi? able Underwater Mothership, or MUM.

MUM.

“Today’s AUVs are usually limited with regard to energy, payload capacity and autonomy,” said Hendrik Wehner, De- sign Engineer, thyssenkrupp Marine Sys- tems. “For a sole autonomous movement of the ships, smart software solutions are needed. Our partners from University of

Rostock and ATLAS ELEKTRONIK are setting the pace there. Large autonomous underwater platforms that can be con- ? gured around a payload do not yet ex- ist. MUM will be engineered in such a manner that future payload modules can be designed by anyone. We see a great potential to reduce costs in the industrial and scienti? c sector, if a vehicle is not engineered to a speci? c task, but can be con? gured. The project’s sole focus is on the civil sector.”

The project brings several notable enti- ties to the table, including engineers from thyssenkrupp, Berlin Technical Universi- ty, the University of Rostock, Atlas Elek- tronk and EvoLogics, all working togeth- er to develop a new type of unmanned underwater vehicle.

MUM will receive funding from the

Illustration: thyssenkrupp Photos: thyssenkrupp

German Federal Ministry for Economic 52 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • DECEMBER 2017

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