A system for deploying and recovering an autonomous underwater device (AUD) using a surface carrier ship, includes, in addition to the carrier ship, a subaquatic vehicle (SV) guided by a connection wire connected to the carrier ship, the SV able to be positioned in a storage configuration wherein the SV is fixedly but removably joined to the carrier ship in a storage zone, or in a configuration for use, in which the SV, separated from the carrier ship, is in the water and at a distance from the carrier ship while remaining connected by the connection wire, the SV including propulsion, guiding and stabilizing systems and a station for receiving the AUD allowing it to be removably attached to the SV, the receiving station and the AUD including a complementary automated docking unit allowing the AUD to automatically dock with the receiving station during recovery and attach itself thereto.

A submersible vessel includes: a hull; a propulsor that propels the hull; a front sensor that sequentially detects locations of an inspection target in front of the hull; a controller that controls the propulsor such that the hull passes through above the detected locations; a movable arm attached to an arm reference point of the hull; an inspection tool at the movable arm that inspects the inspection target; and a position detector that acquires positional information including a position, attitude, or speed of the hull. Based on the information from the position detector, the controller estimates a pass-through position of the arm reference point after a predetermined time. The controller controls the movable arm such that before the time elapses, a positional relation between the arm reference point and inspection tool becomes a positional relation between the estimated pass-through position and a target point on or above each location.

The invention provides a pressure hull for human occupancy for manned submersible vessels, wherein the hull is formed from acrylic, characterised in that the hull has a circular, or near-circular, cross-section across a major axis and has an elongated, non-uniform profile along the major axis. The invention further provides a manned submersible including a pressure hull.

A tether control system for an inspection vehicle operable in a housing having a liquid medium is disclosed in the present application. The tether system includes a tether connected between the inspection vehicle and an electronic controller. A controllable buoyancy system associated with the tether is operable for moving the tether in a desired location. The controllable buoyancy system includes one or more floating bodies having a propulsion system and one or more buoyant elements having variable buoyancy capabilities.

An underwater watercraft including a passenger compartment and an ingress/egress port in which the watercraft has buoyancy and center of gravity adjusted to maintain a generally level or other desired attitude when submerged, and an optionally angled attitude at a water surface for ingress/egress. The attitude is also adjustable via the placement of ballast and optionally including a movable ballast that adjusts the location of the center of gravity as desired. The ingress-egress port optionally includes an entry elevated from a main passenger compartment and including a riser and optionally removable or concealable handrails. The ingress-egress port has an angled orientation in a submerged mode, and an optional orientation generally parallel to the water surface or angled but above the surface in a surface mode.

A platform is positioned within an environment. The platform includes an image capture system connected to a controller implementing a neural network. The neural network is trained to associate visual features within the environment with a target object utilizing a known set of input data examples and labels. The image capture system captures input images from the environment and the neural network recognizes features of one or more of the input images that at least partially match one or more of the visual features within the environment associated with the target object. The input images that contain the visual features within the environment that at least partially match the target object are labeled, a geospatial position of the target object is determined based upon pixels within the labeled input images, and a class activation map is generated, which is then communicated to a supervisory system for action.

The present invention relates to an underwater drone which is an unmanned mobile which can move in the water, and more particularly to a communication system for the underwater drone which performs communication between the underwater drone and a land-based controller (or maneuvering device). The present invention also relates to an airlock apparatus for the drone which transfers the drone into or from facilities or containers, or equipment sealed (or closed) against surrounding environment. The communication system for an underwater drone includes an underwater drone (1) configured to move in the water, at least one transmitting and receiving antenna (2) provided in an area where the transmitting and receiving antenna (2) can communicate with the underwater drone (1) by wireless communication, and a controller or a maneuvering device (5) connected to the at least one transmitting and receiving antenna (2) by a wired cable (4) and configured to control the underwater drone (1).

A field configurable autonomous vehicle includes modular elements and attachable components. The vehicle can be assembled from these modular elements and components to meet desired mission and performance characteristics without the need to purchase specially designed vehicles for each mission. The vehicle can include a module that enables the vehicle to adjust the position of the center of mass to trim the vehicle for efficient operations or to alter the stability and control parameters of the vehicle.

An AUV/UUV docking station is provided that is tethered to a wave energy converter that is in turn tethered to a flotation buoy. The AUV/UUV docking station has a cone for directing an AUV/UUV into a charging dock that is rotatable between a horizontal docking position and a vertical charging position such that in the vertical position the docking station and docked AUV/UUV have a reduced profile so as not to interfere with the operation of the wave energy converter. Energy from the wave energy converter is directed to the dock to charge the AUV/UUV.

A fixed-wing aerial underwater vehicle includes a shell component, a flight component and a pneumatic buoyancy component. The flight component includes a fixed wing and rotors, and the fixed wing and the rotors are mounted in the shell component. The pneumatic buoyancy component includes an air bladder and an inflation and deflation portion, and the inflation and deflation portion can inflate and deflate the air bladder. The air bladder is installed on the shell component, a containing space is formed in the shell component, and the inflation and deflation portion is partially or entirely installed in the containing space. Each rotor includes a rotor supporting rod, a motor base, a motor and a propeller, which are sequentially connected. A control method for the fixed-wing aerial underwater vehicle mentioned above is further provided.