Essex Company's Robotic Mapping Boat Completes Three Week Mission
From their base in Tollesbury, SEA-KIT International have successfully controlled their uncrewed surface vessel (USV) Maxlimer on a 22 day mapping voyage in the Atlantic Ocean. Using a multi beam ultrasonic sounder, the vessel mapped around 1000 km² of continental shelf to a depth of up to 1 km.
Maxlimer is a demonstration of over 'Over-the-horizon' control technology with the aim of showing that it is safe and practical. The boat was connected to the Tollesbury base via satellite where operators could see images from onboard cameras, listen in to its surroundings and access data from thermal imaging cameras and radar. The vessel was initially developed for the Shell Ocean Discovery X-Prize which it went on to win.
More information can be found on the article from BBC news here. A talk from Ben Simpson, managing director of SEA-KIT and original designer of the vessel gave a talk for CSES in early January 2019 when the craft was competing in the Shell X-Prize Competition.