Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Applications Unmanned Surface Vessel Can Be Put To

By Daphne Bowen


The use of water vehicles that allow interaction both below and above the water line continues to be used by both learning institutions and governments for many reasons. Unmanned surface vessel is another name for autonomous surface vehicle and the two are often abbreviated as USV or ASV in that order. A crew is not needed to operate these water vehicles like the name suggests. They allow remote operation by an operator at the base station.

The use of USV began with them being deployed mostly by academic institutions for educational purposes. They were used to study life in the sea for better understanding of sea organisms that people know very little about. They included systems that captured data in various forms such as videos, audio, and pictures and then transmitted them directly to the base station.

The vessels capture and present information that is vital to the study of sea life if used properly. It is easy to navigate them into the sea and back because of the self-propulsion capability. Their capabilities and assistance have been central to understanding the sea better. Cameras are installed above the below the devices so that they can take videos and pictures from above the water line and below it.

The vessel consists of a navigation system that allows for remote control by the operator at the base station. GPS system is deployed heavily in their navigation and without it, they can easily get lost at the sea. In comparison to manned vessels, these variants of water vessels are more resilient and reliable, which makes them more preferable for deep sea excursions.

The success experienced from the use of USVs in educational research attracted most militaries into developing and deploying them in combat mission. The fact that they eliminate any possibility of human casualties made them safer and more preferable for military operations. As such, many militaries around the world now develop and maintain several fleets of USVs in their navies. That has also led to improvements and modification of the design of the first generation USVs.

Enormous evolution has occurred in current-day vessels. Features and capabilities incorporated are so many and diverse that most governments have restricted them for military use alone. Popularity of ASVs continues to grow as possibilities of being capable to deliver higher payloads in comparison to other underwater and surface water vessels grows. They have also been determined to be effective at denying access to unauthorized vessels and at the same time thwarting anti-access measures that enemy troops may install.

Mechanisms for both defensive and offensive operations are incorporated into current-day USVs. That makes them good for anti-submarine and mine warfare missions. Another evolution has occurred in the methods of deployment and positioning of base stations. Currently they can be deployed from anywhere including air, water, and land. Control is also possible from the three locations while maintaining functionality at its maximum level.

The use of USVs for military missions is still not quite widespread. Only a few navies, mostly from the developed economies own them. The limited history and heavy financial commitments required to develop and operate them continue to limit their use.




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