Liquid Robotics and Ultra Electronics USSI recently announced the joint development of a revolutionary and cost effective surveillance system for the global maritime security market.
This new product leverages the Liquid Robotics Wave Glider, the world’s first wave powered ocean robot, with Ultra Electronics USSI’s state of the art acoustic sensing and signal processing to provide a persistent, best-of-breed, surveillance capability. This solution helps address the critical need for affordable, long duration, maritime surveillance of the world’s Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), Exclusion Economic Zones (EEZs), ports and coastlines.
“Countries around the globe are losing valuable natural resources and economic opportunity without the ability to persistently patrol their coastlines, MPAs and EEZs,” said Bill Vass, CEO of Liquid Robotics. “This strategic partnership will bring to market a powerful solution with the ability to help close this gap globally.”
The Sentinel Passive Acoustic Sensor, designed and manufactured by Ultra Electronics USSI, will be scalable and configurable to meet the end user’s operational requirements covering a broad range of mission applications. The sensor/software suite is designed to acoustically detect, track and form contact reports on waterborne targets that are transmitted to a command and control node on shore, ship or aircraft platform. Contact reports will contain spatial information that allows for data fusion with other sensor sources to achieve an affordable common operational picture that will provide the user maximum situational awareness. Applications for this product are vast and include area surveillance, perimeter trip wire notification, marine mammal monitoring and data collection, environmental data collection and defense and military mission capability sets.
Liquid Robotics’ Wave Gliders will host the Sentinel Passive Acoustic Sensors in conjunction with additional weather, optical, communications and computing resources to provide real time maritime domain awareness. Able to operate 24×7, through all weather conditions, the Wave Glider reduces the risk and costs to long duration maritime security.
Both Liquid Robotics and Ultra Electronics USSI’s combined engineering excellence have resulted in an integrated system that brings a disruptive persistent platform surveillance capability to a host of water surface security applications.
Press Release, April 21, 2014; Image: Liquid Robotics