US Navy develops unmanned robotic boats with swarm capability

In a breakthrough, the US Navy today said it has successfully developed cheap unmanned armed robotic boats that would not only its protect warships, but also, for the first time, autonomously "swarm" offensively on hostile vessels, giving naval war-fighters a decisive edge.
The first-of-its-kind technology, adapted from NASA's Mars rover programme, was successfully demonstrated over two weeks in August on the James River in Virginia-allows unmanned Navy vessels to overwhelm an adversary.
Its sensors and software enable swarming capability, giving naval war-fighters a decisive edge, officials at the Office of Naval Research (ONR) said.
"This networking unmanned platforms demonstration was a cost-effective way to integrate many small, cheap, and autonomous capabilities that can significantly improve our war-fighting advantage," said Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations.

The technology-called CARACaS (Control Architecture for Robotic Agent Command and Sensing)-is under development by ONR, and can be put into a transportable kit and installed on almost any boat.
It allows boats to operate autonomously, without a Sailor physically needing to be at the controls-including operating in sync with other unmanned vessels; choosing their own routes; swarming to interdict enemy vessels; and escorting/protecting naval assets.

"Our Sailors and Marines can't fight tomorrow's battles using yesterday's technology," said Chief of Naval Research Rear Admiral Matthew Klunder.
"This kind of breakthrough is the result of the Navy's long-term support for innovative research in science and technology," he said.

In the demonstrations, as many as 13 Navy boats operated using either autonomous or remote control. First they escorted a high-value Navy ship, and then, when a simulated enemy vessel was detected, the boats sped into action, swarming around the threat, ONR said in a statement.
In the future, the capability could scale to include even greater numbers of USVs and even to other platforms, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
"This multiplies combat power by allowing CARACaS-enabled boats to do some of the dangerous work," said Dr Robert Brizzolara, programme manager at ONR.
"It will remove our Sailors and Marines from many dangerous situations-for instance when they need to approach hostile or suspicious vessels. If an adversary were to fire on the USVs, no humans would be at risk," Brizzolara said.

Brizzolara said the CARACaS system evolved from hardware and software originally used in NASA's Mars rover programme.