Competing in the Autonomous & Uncrewed Systems category alongside other surface and underwater vehicles, Open Ocean Robotics’ DataXplorer™ uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) demonstrated its advanced sensor suite for maritime domain awareness (MDA). The suite included 360-degree visual cameras, 360-degree thermal cameras, a towed hydrophone, environmental sensors, and AI edge computing systems Enhanced Horizon™ and Underwater Listener™. These tools enhance the detection range for both visual and acoustic detections beyond what typical crew can provide.
Open Ocean Robotics collaborated with finalists from other categories to explore the potential for integrated technologies. The company’s engineering team worked with Sunfish, MAK, DSA Ocean, and BLUEiQ, as well as Verizon and IBM for data sharing. A collaboration with computational fluid dynamic experts DSA Ocean created a model of DataXplorer to evaluate how it would operate in predicted weather conditions for optimized performance. MAK integrated a 3D model of DataXplorer into their environmental simulation platform. During the event, XplorerView, OOR’s control and data viewing platform, streamed real-time data into Sunfish’s AI visualization platform. While BLUEiQ provided acoustic data from their buoy-mounted hydrophones, enabling real-time comparison with insights collected by the DataXplorer’s towed hydrophone. The OOR USV provided the foundation for this diverse technology trial.
“It was a privilege to work alongside these leading innovators and be part of BlueTIDE. We were thrilled to showcase how our real-time processing and data transmission capabilities allow us to rapidly detect and localize objects of interest, sharing both spectrograms and acoustic clips in real time,” said Fritz Stahr, Chief Technology Officer of Open Ocean Robotics.
During the event, the DataXplorer USV autonomously navigated to the operation area to search for unknown underwater objects. Evaluators observed the operation from a chase boat, while attendees watched the live-stream data feed on XplorerView. Open Ocean Robotics successfully detected anomalous objects in the operation site using its sensor suite, demonstrating the capabilities of this platform for MDA.
Since 2019, Open Ocean Robotics has been conducting autonomous data collection missions for maritime security and environmental monitoring with its USVs. The available fleet of 11 DataXplorer’s has logged over 8,000 hours across three oceans, enduring hurricane-force winds and operating continuously for up to a month. In addition to using this fleet for mission as a service, OOR is now making DataXplorer USVs available for end-user preorders, with the first customer deliveries in late 2024.
