External Payload Release System (ExPRS)

Underwater assets and infrastructure have an increasingly critical role in the Department of Defense (DoD) strategies for subsea reconnaissance, surveillance, communications, and connectivity. The DoD is developing an Internet of Things (IoT) approach to subsea data collection and connectivity. As such, the department is interested in deploying large quantities of sensors, navigational aides and acoustic markers in both shallow and deep waters. While traditional ROVs can be used to deliver payloads to the seafloor in deep water, operating them is expensive and they lack the lateral range and maneuverability required to execute covert payload deployment operations. UUVs are highly capable of performing operations like this, but much payload-specific planning and custom modifications are typically required if the payload is to be stored within the vehicle hull. A high demand exists for a flexible, externally-mounted UUV payload delivery system that can be used to deploy a variety of payloads from a range of vehicles without the need to modify the UUV in any way. Makai Ocean Engineering proposes to develop the External Payload Release System (ExPRS). The ExPRS provides a low cost, reusable, modular method for rapidly and accurately delivering subsea payloads from a variety of UUV types in both shallow and deep water environments.