ROBOTS ON WATER The Coast Guard completes a pilot demonstration of unmanned surface vehicles for low-cost maritime domain awareness. BY CRAIG COLLINS
The Coast Guard’s operational use of unmanned systems, begun in the air a few years ago, is accelerating. Six of its National Security Cutters (NSCs) – a number that will include all eight operational NSCs by spring of 2021 – are outfitted with unmanned fixedwing aircraft that can be launched from their decks to expand maritime domain awareness (MDA) and provide actionable intelligence on hazards and threats. In 2018, the service’s Office of Aviation Forces began a pilot project to evaluate short-range aerial systems – remotecontrolled rotary-wing vehicles – to assist with routine survey and inspection work. The service did not get to the point of employing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operationally overnight. The Coast Guard’s Research and Development Center (RDC) began evaluating UAS nearly two decades ago, starting in 2001 with testing of advanced catapult launch and recovery technologies onboard CGC Harriet Lane. Beginning in October 2020, the service took a decisive step toward introducing unmanned watercraft to its surface fleet. A 30-day pilot study was devised in response to a congressional mandate, issued in 2018, for the Coast Guard to evaluate low-cost, commercially available technologies that could enhance MDA in remote Pacific regions. The Coast Guard continues to face challenges with respect to conducting maritime surveillance necessary to support its statutory missions related to marine safety, security, and protection in the Pacific Ocean. According to Cmdr. Blair Sweigart, PhD, chief of the Modeling, Simulation and Analysis Branch at the RDC and Pilot Demonstration Director, Congress didn’t specify the platform to be used in the pilot; the Coast Guard’s choice of systems was guided by the focus on IUU fishing. “It’s a global issue,” said Sweigart, “and we stand alongside a lot of partner nations in trying to combat this threat. The choice to explore unmanned surface vessels was driven by the desire to keep the costs low and accessible for our partner agencies and potentially partner nations.” The Coast Guard’s request for proposal included several requirements: the unmanned surface vessels (USVs) to be evaluated must be able to operate for 30 consecutive days without refueling; to detect other vessels within a minimum of one nautical mile; to provide notification of this detection within 6 hours; to operate within a defined area of 20 square nautical miles off the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii;
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to operate solely by beyond-line-of-sight communications; and other requirements. In February of 2020, the service awarded two contracts for operation and support of USVs during the 30-day pilot: to Saildrone, a manufacturer of wind- and solar-powered USVs; and to Spatial Integrated Systems, Inc. (SIS), a developer of robotic control systems. The evaluations were conducted as part of the Low Cost Maritime Domain Awareness Pilot project under the RDC Surface Branch and began on Oct. 7, off the south shore of Oahu, as Sweigart and four colleagues from the RDC ran the USVs through a series of simulated exercises. Five other members, including Project Manager Scot Tripp, remained at the RDC in New London, Connecticut, to perform remote monitoring.
THE SAILDRONE The Saildrone is a remotely operated surface vehicle, about 23 feet long, propelled by wind acting on a 15-foottall rigid sail. Its sensors and other equipment are powered by solar cells. Because they are powered by sunlight and wind, Saildrones can operate for months at a time, traveling programmed routes that can be modified by remote operators. They have an established record of conducting scientific missions in remote and often rough environments: At least one Saildrone has circumnavigated Antarctica, and from May to August, 2020, four Saildrones, at speeds of 2-3 knots, sailed from company headquarters in Alameda, California, to Point Hope, Alaska, to conduct hydrographic surveys off the North Slope for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The six Saildrones used for the Coast Guard’s MDA pilot conducted simulated patrols over Penguin Bank, a coral reef 25 miles southeast of Honolulu. The drones were equipped with two mechanisms for identifying vessels: optical cameras for visual sightings, mounted atop each drone’s sail; and Automatic Identification System (AIS), the digital tracking system used by vessel traffic services. Saildrone cameras captured images every five seconds and completed onboard analysis of every image, using the company’s proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) software, and then sent confirmed vessel images to Saildrone command centers. All were controlled via an internet web portal that provided imagery and tracking data for each detection – and also
