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Development and missions of unmanned surface vehicle

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Abstract

The navy and other Department of Defense organizations are increasingly interested in the use of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) for a variety of missions and applications. The term USV refers to any vehicle that operates on the surface of the water without a crew. USVs have the potential, and in some cases the demonstrated ability, to reduce risk to manned forces, provide the necessary force multiplication to accomplish military missions, perform tasks which manned vehicles cannot, and do so in a way that is affordable for the navy. A survey of USV activities worldwide as well as the general technical challenges of USVs was presented below. A general description of USVs was provided along with their typical applications. The technical challenges of developing a USV include its intelligence level, control, high stability, and developmental cost reduction. Through the joint efforts of researchers around the world, it is believed that the development of USVs will enter a new phase in the near future, as USVs could soon be applied widely both in military and civilian service.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Science and Technology on Underwater Vehicle Laboratory, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, 150001, China

    Ru-jian Yan, Shuo Pang, Han-bing Sun & Yong-jie Pang

Authors
  1. Ru-jian Yan
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  2. Shuo Pang
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  3. Han-bing Sun
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  4. Yong-jie Pang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ru-jian Yan.

Additional information

Foundation item: Research Fund from Science and Technology on Underwater Vehicle Laboratory.

Ru-jian Yan was born in 1968. He is an associate professor at Harbin Engineering University. His current research interests include computer network, design of unmanned combat system. etc.

Shuo Pang received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from University of California, Riverside, in 2001 and 2004, respectively. He is a professor at Harbin Engineering University and an associate professor in the Department of Electrical, Computer, Software, and System Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL. His current research interests include embedded control systems, robotics, and autonomous underwater vehicles.

Han-bing Sun was born in 1985. She is a student of Harbin Engineering University. Her current research interest is Unmanned Surface Vehicle design.

Yong-jie Pang was born in 1955. He is a professor at Harbin Engineering University. His current research interests include technology of naval architecture and ocean structure, autonomous underwater vehicle, etc.

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Yan, Rj., Pang, S., Sun, Hb. et al. Development and missions of unmanned surface vehicle. J. Marine. Sci. Appl. 9, 451–457 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11804-010-1033-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11804-010-1033-2

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