Methods and apparatus for deploying an unmanned marine vehicle into water are disclosed. The unmanned marine vehicle includes a float and a glider connected by a tether. The float is selectively retained in a buoyant frame by a float clamp assembly. A glider retainer assembly is coupled to the buoyant frame and selectively retains the glider. The glider retainer assembly and the float clamp assembly execute a deployment sequence for deploying the unmanned marine vehicle from the apparatus. In some embodiments, the apparatus is self-propelled to permit remote operation and deployment of the unmanned marine vehicle.

Methods and apparatus for retrieving an unmanned marine vehicle from water are disclosed. The unmanned marine vehicle includes a float and a glider connected by a tether. The apparatus includes a buoyant frame having spaced frame arms defining a receiving bay sized to receive the float, and the buoyant frame includes a front end defining an opening of the receiving bay. A glider recovery assembly is coupled to the buoyant frame and includes a first tether guide coupled to the buoyant frame, and a second tether guide coupled to the buoyant frame, wherein the first tether guide and the second tether guide are cooperatively shaped to define a tether capture gap having a tether inlet adjacent the front end of the buoyant frame and a tether stop positioned rearward of the tether inlet.

An unmanned vehicle including a vehicle body, a propulsion system, a maneuvering system, a vehicle control system, a buoyancy control system, a sensor system, and at least one power supply is disclosed. The propulsion system, maneuvering system, vehicle control system, buoyancy control system, sensor system, and power supply are carried by the vehicle body. The sensor system includes a sensor adapted to detect an item of interest and provide an item of interest signal to the vehicle control system. The vehicle control system is adapted to receive the item of interest signal, identify an item of interest classification and provide a classification signal. The classification signal is determined by the item of interest classification and is utilized by the propulsion system, maneuvering system, vehicle control system, or buoyancy control system to avoid physical, electrical, acoustic, or thermal detection of the unmanned vehicle by the item of interest.

A vessel includes a body, such as surfboard, that floats in water. One or more thrusters, and one or more sensors are provided on the body. A controller is configured to selectively activate the thrusters to cause the vessel to move along a path through the water, receive sensor data from the one or more sensors while the vessel is moving along the path, determine, based on the sensor data, whether a dangerous condition is present in the water; and output a warning when the dangerous condition is present in the water. For example, the collected sensor data may relate to locations and directions of currents in the water, the dangerous condition may relate to a rip current, and the warning may identify at least one attribute of the rip current. A map identifying a location of the dangerous condition may be generated and forwarded to other devices.

Various autonomous aquatic herbicide application vessels are described. In one embodiment, a system for aquatic herbicide application includes an aquatic vessel, a propulsion system to propel the aquatic vessel over a body of water, a holding container to hold a substance, a substance applicator to apply the substance to the body of water, and a controller. The controller can include a control processor configured to navigate the aquatic vessel using the propulsion system and apply the substance to the body of water using the substance applicator. According to one embodiment, the system includes a global positioning system to determine a geographic location of the system and a memory to store a route for application of the substance in the body of water. Further, the controller is configured to autonomously control the propulsion system to track the route based on changes in the geographic location of the system over time.

Disclosed is a surface vessel with motorised mechanical propulsion including a fusiform hull and a keel in the bottom part of the hull, the hull having an elongate shape in a longitudinal direction of the vessel, the keel including, at the bottom end of same, a bulb linked to the hull by a linking part of the keel, the maximum width of the linking part being smaller than the maximum width of the bulb, the maximum length of the linking part being smaller than the maximum length of the bulb, the lengths and widths being considered respectively in the longitudinal direction of the vessel and a horizontal transverse direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. The hull has a total width to total length ratio of less than 0.2 and a maximum length of less than 20 metres.

A system for autonomous ocean data collection includes at least one sensor capable of collecting sensor data, at least one transmission device, and at least one computing device comprising one or more hardware processors and memory coupled to the one or more hardware processors, the memory storing one or more instructions which, when executed by the one or more hardware processors, cause the at least one computing device to generate data for transmission based on the sensor data collected by the at least one sensor, and cause the at least one transmission device to transmit the data.

The present invention discloses an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) for aquatic ecosystem monitoring and restoration and a control method for aquatic ecosystem restoration. A control cabin, a water-quality monitoring cabin, and a water treatment equipment compartment are arranged inside a cabin of a hull of the USV for aquatic ecosystem monitoring and restoration, and a water-surface photographing device and a remote communications device are arranged outside the cabin; the control cabin is connected to the water-quality monitoring cabin, the water-surface photographing device, and the water treatment equipment compartment; the water quality parameters include five conventional water quality parameters and eutrophication-based water quality parameters; and the remote communications device is connected to the water-quality monitoring cabin and the water treatment equipment compartment. The present invention can implement real-time, automatic, and dynamic aquatic ecosystem monitoring, early warning of the water pollution, and self-adaptive ecological restoration based on an artificial intelligent control algorithm.

The present invention discloses an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) for aquatic ecosystem monitoring and restoration and a control method for aquatic ecosystem restoration. A control cabin, a water-quality monitoring cabin, and a water treatment equipment compartment are arranged inside a cabin of a hull of the USV for aquatic ecosystem monitoring and restoration, and a water-surface photographing device and a remote communications device are arranged outside the cabin; the control cabin is connected to the water-quality monitoring cabin, the water-surface photographing device, and the water treatment equipment compartment; the water quality parameters include five conventional water quality parameters and eutrophication-based water quality parameters; and the remote communications device is connected to the water-quality monitoring cabin and the water treatment equipment compartment. The present invention can implement real-time, automatic, and dynamic aquatic ecosystem monitoring, early warning of the water pollution, and self-adaptive ecological restoration based on an artificial intelligent control algorithm.

Techniques are provided for an unmanned surface vehicle including a vehicle body and a rigid square-rig wing coupled with the primary vehicle body. The rigid square-rig wing includes a first surface configured to interact with wind to generate a force that propels the primary vehicle body in a direction of travel that is primarily composed of drag, and a second surface configured to interact with the wind to generate a force that propels the primary vehicle body in a direction of travel that is primarily composed of lift. The unmanned surface vehicle further includes a rudder and a control system comprising a controller, the control system configured to determine a rudder position and generate a signal to position the rudder to the rudder position.