Sea Machines Robotics, Metal Shark Boats to supply USCG’s RDC with autonomous vessel for testing

October 1, 2020 | AUVSI News

Sea Machines Robotics has partnered with shipbuilder Metal Shark Boats to supply the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)’s Research and Development Center (RDC) with a new Sharktech 29 Defiant vessel.

Responsible for helping transition innovative technologies and providing premier analysis and decision support to enhance operational performance across all Coast Guard missions, the RDC will use the vessel to test and evaluate the capabilities of available autonomous vessel technology.

Sea Machines SM300 autonomous-command and remote-helm control technology is integrated onto the vessel, providing the USCG with a full range of advanced capabilities, including transit autonomy, collaborative autonomy, collision avoidance and remote vessel monitoring.

“Sea Machines is proud to actively support government agencies across a variety of projects and to expand that support to the Department of Homeland Security with this important demonstration being conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard,” says Sea Machines’ Phil Bourque, director, sales.

“Our systems are being rapidly adopted by government and commercial operators alike, offering increases in on-water productivity and predictability, while reducing operational risk.”

During demonstrations, which are scheduled for October off the coast of Hawaii, the RDC team will test and evaluate the Sharktech vessel’s autonomous capabilities for their potential in supporting USCG surveillance, interdiction, patrol and other missions. The autonomous vessel will be returned to the RDC’s New London facility following the Hawaii demonstrations, where it will be used in additional testing to investigate application to various Coast Guard missions.

“As the premier USCG facility performing research, development, test and evaluation in support of the service’s major missions, the RDC team is eager to observe Sea Machines’ system in action,” says USCG’s Derek Meier, assistant demonstration director.

“The exercises will ultimately help us determine how, when, and if this innovative technology can be used to support personnel who are executing a variety of Coast Guard activities.”

Sea Machines partnered with Metal Shark in 2019 to make available the Sharktech 29 Defiant vessel to commercial markets, under Metal Shark’s stock boat program. In July 2020, Sea Machines partnered with Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) to accelerate the deployment of self-piloting technologies in the rising market of unmanned naval boats and ships.

Photo below: Sea Machines Robotics has partnered with shipbuilder Metal Shark Boats to supply the USCG’s RDC with a new Sharktech 29 Defiant vessel for the purposes of testing and evaluating the capabilities of available autonomous vessel technology. Photo: Sea Machines Robotics