A consortium led by Madrid-based tech company UTEK, Galician semi-rigid boat manufacturer Narwhal Boats, and engine distributor Touron Náutica, also from Madrid, has developed a highly reliable unmanned vessel that has already been successfully tested: the SV01P Kaluga.
USVs are unmanned vessels whose length and displacement can vary greatly. The consortium has focused on the so-called “harbor class“, with typical lengths of 7m, but their size can be adapted to the required application. For the development of the systems, the ability to be integrated into any type of vessel has been taken into account. They are used for maritime surveillance, maritime rescue, oceanographic research, or defense applications.
After an intense campaign of preliminary tests to verify the validity of the development, the first successful demonstrations of operational performance have been carried out, in which the Kaluga demonstrated its capabilities by navigating completely autonomously at speeds exceeding 40 knots with 100% effectiveness.
The development of the SV01P (Surface Vehicle 01 Prototype) project began based on a 6.70m long Narwhal equipped with a 150 HP Mercury Verado engine. UTEK would be responsible for the coordination and development of unmanned capabilities, Narwhal Boats would provide the boat and technical and commercial support, and Touron Náutica the engine and its integration. Named Kaluga, the USV performed its first dynamic tests in the San Juan Reservoir, just eight months after the start of the collaboration between the three firms.
The prototype has carried out various demonstrations of its capabilities, such as the one that took place at the SAGGAS facilities in the Port of Sagunto, with the attendance of personnel from that company, as well as from SASEMAR and the Valenciaport Foundation.
“We have achieved our first objective of developing a prototype with basic functionalities in a short period of time”, they assure from the technology company.
According to UTEK sources, this innovative development will have a significant impact on the landscape of unmanned systems both at a national and European level, due to its high reliability since aeronautical and space methodologies and procedures have been applied in the project, which has minimized the possibility of failures. On the other hand, the system can be manually piloted from the vessel itself or remotely from the control station, being able to transfer control dynamically from either location.
UTEK is incubated in ESA BIC Community of Madrid, the European Space Agency’s Business Incubation Center co-financed by the Community of Madrid, and managed by the Foundation for Knowledge madri+d. UTEK’s facilities are located in one of the nodes of ESA BIC Community of Madrid, specifically in the Madrid Scientific Park Foundation. Both the Foundation for Knowledge madri+d and the Madrid Scientific Park Foundation are members of the Enterprise Europe Network, the largest (worldwide) support network for SMEs with an internationalization vocation, with the Foundation for Knowledge madri+d being the coordinating entity of the contact point of the EEN Network in Madrid (EEN madrimasd). [vc_single_image image=”21426″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” qode_css_animation=””][vc_empty_space]
