ASV, MOST Make Strides Toward Use of Long-Endurance USVs for Data Collection 

Photo Courtesy ASV Ltd.

By Holly Gonzalez



England-based ASV Ltd. of Porchester and MOST (AV) Ltd. of Chichester have been selected to work on a new generation of long-endurance unmanned surface vehicle. The vehicles will compete as part of a project that will retrieve scientific data from the ocean for an extended period of time through the use of sensors, satellite navigation tools, data transfer to the shore, and communications for command and control. 



The Marine Autonomous and Robotic System facility at the National Oceanography Centre hosted a panel to judge systems, and ASV’s C-Enduro and MOST’s Autonaut were selected as prototypes.



Geraint West, the head of national marine facilities at the National Oceanography Center, says, “Long-endurance marine unmanned surface vehicles will make a major contribution to the ability of scientists to take measurements from the ocean, which are currently grossly under-sampled in space and time. The process that selected MOST (AV) and ASV was very rigorous, and we are confident that we have two excellent partners to take this exciting program forward. I would like to offer both my congratulations.”