Advanced System Technology branch AST of Fraunhofer IOSB
In multinational defence operations at EU or NATO level, the exchange of surveillance and reconnaissance data is essential for enabling a rapid response. In the context of naval forces, the aim is to generate and maintain a unified maritime situational picture that is available to all those involved in the operation as a basis for decision-making. To this end, OCEAN 2020 integrates drones, unmanned surface vessels and unmanned submarines into fleet formations.
Project objectives
The aim of OCEAN2020 is to provide commanders at various levels of command with a comprehensive maritime situational picture.
Our approach
The main task is to integrate established and new technologies for unmanned systems (UxS), ISTAR payloads and effectors, and to fuse the diverse data and information into a unified situational picture. To this end, the system links unmanned platforms at the tactical level – in particular drones, unmanned surface vessels and unmanned submarines – along with their control stations and functions for sensor data analysis and fusion, to the ship’s combat management system (CMS).
As part of OCEAN2020, the IOSB provided unmanned, autonomous surface and underwater vehicles for both simulated and live demonstrations, and integrated them into a multinational network.
The result
For this project, the IOSB-AUV DEDAVE was modified to enable it to interact within a multinational network. In addition, new sensor technology was integrated into the underwater vehicle and the processing of sonar data was accelerated, so that the data was available for decision-making and situational awareness shortly after the raw data had been transferred.
