A boat that operate autonomously or by remote control, and may be operated without on-board personnel (unmanned) or may be operated in conjunction with onboard personnel, and to methods of using such boats at sea.

The invention relates to a tug for maneuvering a vessel, comprising at least one proximity sensor in a contact area, the proximity sensor being configured to detect a distance between the contact area and the vessel, and a tug controller unit controlling an approach of the tug towards the vessel based on the detected distance between the contact area and the vessel.

The systems and associated methods are for autonomously launching and recovering payload objects such as vessels, equipment and people by partially submerging a multi-mode unmanned vehicle in a controlled manner. Mechanical, power, signal and logical system components operate in a coordinated manner to repeatedly and reliably perform unmanned launch and recovery of payloads in a variety of conditions and sea states from a catamaran style hull with multi-mode, high-performance characteristics.

Apparatus and methods for measuring a position of a point on a submerged surface. The apparatus includes: a platform; a liquid-tight pressure vessel fixedly coupled to the platform, wherein the liquid-tight pressure vessel is formed in part by an optically transparent enclosure; a pan-tilt mechanism coupled to the platform and disposed inside the liquid-tight pressure vessel; a camera mounted to the pan-tilt mechanism; a laser range meter affixed to the camera; and a refractive index sensor coupled to and disposed outside the liquid-tight pressure vessel. In accordance with one proposed implementation, the optically transparent enclosure is spherical, the pan-tilt mechanism has a pan axis and a tilt axis that intersect at a center of the optically transparent enclosure, and the laser range meter is located to emit a laser beam that is perpendicular to the optically transparent enclosure.

The present invention discloses a remote controlled unmanned fishing boat intended to effect remote control fishing. The remote controlled unmanned fishing boat includes a fish shoal detector for detecting a shoal of fish, a first transmitter for transmitting by specific radio waves the information concerning the shoal of fish detected by the fish shoal detector, a propelling power source for propelling the boat, a controller for steering the boat, and a first receiver for receiving specific radio waves concerning the operations of the fish shoal detector, the propelling power source, and the controller, all for inducing the operations. Further, the boat is provided with a lifting handle for lifting the boat from the water surface, wherein the lifting handle is formed from a cutout portion of the boat.

A decoy system with a ballast that holds batteries to power the various elements of the decoy system including a Global Positioning System or location based receiver and circuitry that automatically controls the navigation of the decoy based on real-time location and desired/selected pattern information. The system can include a decoy with a propulsion system and steering system and an interface to a smart phone running a remote control app. The remote control app can be used to control the navigation of the decoy in view of the location information received from the GPS.

A quadrotor UAV including ruggedized, integral-battery, load-bearing body, two arms on the load-bearing body, each arm having two rotors, a control module mounted on the load-bearing body, a payload module mounted on the control module, and skids configured as landing gear. The two arms are replaceable with arms having wheels for ground vehicle use, with arms having floats and props for water-surface use, and with arms having pitch-controlled props for underwater use. The control module is configured to operate as an unmanned aerial vehicle, an unmanned ground vehicle, an unmanned (water) surface vehicle, and an unmanned underwater vehicle, depending on the type of arms that are attached.

An integrated tow system may include one or more unmanned towboat modules that may be used to improve maneuvering of tows on an inland waterway, such as a river. To reduce environmental stresses on operators, a command module that includes control and communications equipment for controlling operation of the unmanned towboat modules may provide living quarters for the operators, but not include a propulsion system for maneuvering a tow. The control and communication equipment may monitor for rotation commands by an operator that exceed rotational capabilities of the unmanned towboat modules, and provide for non-linear controls that include changing position of a rotational point that is centrally located longitudinally along the tow so as to provide for 1:1 rotational control of the tow by a tow drive system (e.g., bow and stern unmanned towboat modules). River tracking and river parking features may be supported by the control and communications equipment.

The present invention provides a remote-controllable underwater device for manoeuvring a vessel. The device comprising at least one housing, a connection unit provided on the housing for rigidly attaching below the water to the vessel to be manoeuvred, at least one propeller mounted on the housing for moving the device and the vessel attached to the connection unit, an antenna for communication with the device from a remote control unit, at least one sensor for path tracking and positioning of the device and the vessel, and a power source for providing power to the connection unit, the propeller, the antenna, and the sensor.

Systems and associated methods for rapid integration and control of payloads carried by a multi-mode unmanned vehicle configured to accommodate a variety of payloads of varying size, shape, and interface and control characteristics. Mechanical, power, signal, and logical interfaces to a variety of payloads operate to enable environmental protection, efficient placement and connection to the vehicle, and control of those payloads in multiple environmental modes as well as operational modes (including in air, on the surface of water surface, and underwater).