Challenges & Opportunities in Maritime Robotics

Matthew Bays, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division (NSWC PCD)

10/13/2020

Location: Zoom

Time: 2:55p.m.

Abstract: Interest in unmanned systems has increased considerably within the maritime domain and specifically the U.S. Navy over the last several decades. However, the littoral (shallow water) and undersea environments offer unique challenges resulting in the need for more autonomous, more reliable, and more modular unmanned systems than is often found in other domains. In this talk, we will provide an overview of the particular challenges the U.S. Navy is attempting to solve or mitigate within the littoral environment and solutions currently in development. These challenges include the unique communication constraints of the underwater domain, the difficult maritime sensing environment, and reliability needs of undersea systems.