Enhanced Riverine Drifter

The Navy has need of assessing the river environment including bathymetry, flow velocity profile, and navigational obstructions. While improvements in measurement fidelity and reduction in cost have come about by the use of multiple drifters, measurement quality is lost due to convergent drifter trajectories, and cost/risk remains high due to personnel effort required for deployment. An autonomous river measurement system capable of self-deployment as well as detecting and evading collisions with floating debris is desired. Toyon proposes to develop and demonstrate a prototype Wapter (water-helicopter) autonomous riverine system: a combination of a unique UAV coupled with a multi-functional hull well-suited to river measurement. The Wapter platform features a structure which protects the propellers in bad or crash landings, and sufficient control authority to vertically take off of the water and recover should it be flipped onto its back. The Wapter platform is foldable for easy transport, and is designed for a 24+ hour mission.