UUV Surface-Based Capture and Deployment (U-SCAD)

The capability to deploy, maintain, and retrieve a network of small unmanned underwater vehicles from an unmanned surface craft is a vital missing link for the Navy as it increases its reliance on unmanned vehicles for littoral, minesweeping and other operations. To this end, Michigan Aerospace Corporation, in partnership with the University of Kentucky, proposes to develop a fully-autonomous deployment, rendezvous, capture, and maintenance system that will leverage existing core technologies of both partners. During the Phase I effort, Michigan Aerospace Corp. will develop the mechanical and software interface for a UUV Surface-based Capture and Deployment (U-SCAD) system, and the University of Kentuckyâ?Ts Center for Visualization and Virtual Environments will provide the expertise in sensors required for close proximity capture and retrieval operations. If a Phase I Option is awarded, a dynamic simulation of the concept design will be demonstrated in a virtual environment. The end result will be a concept design that advances the state of the art in unmanned naval operations and that can be taken to a prototype demonstration during a Phase II effort.