Geared up with a collection of superior sensors, Surveyor delivers real-time intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) above and beneath the floor. | Supply: Saildrone
Saildrone Inc., in partnership with Meta, this week introduced that it has accomplished a deep-water cable route survey within the North Atlantic utilizing the Saildrone Surveyor, a 20-m (65.6 ft.) uncrewed floor car, or USV. The corporate mentioned the demonstration proves that autonomous platforms can ship information high quality and efficiency on par with conventional crewed survey vessels whereas lowering danger and price.
“This mission demonstrated that autonomous ocean mapping is not only doable—it’s right here, and it’s extremely efficient,” mentioned Andy Palmer-Felgate, subsea cable engineer at Meta. “Saildrone delivered information that matched legacy surveys with distinctive accuracy, all whereas working remotely and with minimal environmental impression.”
“As capability wants improve, Meta continues to put money into cutting-edge infrastructure applied sciences — and our subsea cable technique work is important to those efforts,” he mentioned. “Ocean mapping performs an essential function, and the implications for subsea cable route surveys are profound.”
The businesses accomplished the 26-day survey between June and July 2024. Through the demonstration, the Saildrone Surveyor mapped greater than 4,500 km (2,796 mi.) of seabed. This included advanced topographies and difficult situations, and not using a port name or outdoors help, mentioned Saildrone.
Working below sail and motor-sail modes and outfitted with a Kongsberg EM304 MKII multibeam sonar, Surveyor achieved swath protection of as much as 10 km (6.2 mi.) in water depths of as much as 5,500 m (3.4 mi.), the firm mentioned.
Alameda, Calif.-based Saildrone’s USVs use refined sensors mixed with proprietary AI algorithms. These present a full image of the maritime surroundings above and beneath the ocean floor.
The Voyager USV earned Saildrone a 2025 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award for mapping beforehand unexplored areas of the Gulf of Maine.
Surveyor exceeds expectations
The demonstration centered on gathering bathymetric information alongside the established Anjana cable route and the just lately surveyed Aurora route. This allowed the groups to instantly examine the Saildrone Surveyor’s efficiency in opposition to conventional crewed survey vessels. Key operational metrics—route constancy, line holding, information transmission, and depth accuracy—met or exceeded expectations throughout the board, Saildrone mentioned.
Utilizing the Saildrone Mission Portal and real-time, high-bandwidth satellite tv for pc connectivity, Saildrone hydrographic surveyors and pilots monitored car efficiency. The surveyors have been capable of dynamically re-task it to research options of curiosity, akin to seamounts and canyons, important for route optimization. Beforehand restricted to crewed vessels, this functionality opens the door to extra agile, responsive, and distributed survey operations, Saildrone mentioned.
A important focus of the mission was minimizing well being, security, and environmental (HSE) dangers related to offshore operations. The workforce aimed to show important advantages to the standard of life for hydrographic surveyors, cable route engineers, and consumer representatives.
With the Surveyor, these individuals can now carry out their work remotely from shore-based places of work or dwelling places of work, lowering time away from household and minimizing the bodily and psychological pressure related to offshore deployments, mentioned Saildron. Moreover, the mission prevented an estimated 243 tons of CO₂ emissions, over 50 occasions lower than a traditional vessel, highlighting the sustainability benefits of uncrewed techniques.
A map of the cable route on the seabed that Saildrone’s Surveyor produced. | Supply: Saildrone
Saildrone appears to be like to wider USV purposes
This demonstration paves the way in which for broader adoption of USVs in subsea telecommunications, offshore power, and nationwide hydrographic applications, in line with Saildrone. Future developments will deal with increasing operational vary, enhancing climate resilience, and integrating new applied sciences like AI-based navigation and expendable bathythermographs.
“This can be a turning level for deep-ocean survey,” mentioned Brian Connon, vice chairman of ocean mapping at Saildrone. “The Surveyor’s efficiency on this mission proves that we are able to ship high-resolution, deep-water bathymetry with a fraction of the gas, value, and danger. As our fleet expands, we envision a worldwide community of Surveyor USVs supporting offshore industries with protected, environment friendly, and scalable information options.”
In Could, Saildrone closed a $60 million funding spherical. The firm mentioned it’ll use the funding to carry its expertise to Europe to deal with the pressing want for maritime safety for important infrastructure and wider protection purposes.
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