UDT 2020 UDT Extended Abstract Unmanned, Remotely Piloted & Autonomous Systems UDT 2020 – Missionized Riptide Unmanned Underwater Vehicles J. E. Filiberti 1 and R. M. Carvalho Jr. 2 1 Senior Principal Scientist, BAE Systems FAST Labs, Arlington, Virginia, USA, julia.filiberti@baesystems.com 2 Technical Director, BAE Systems FAST Labs, Merrimack, New Hampshire, USA, ronald.carvalho@baesystems.com Abstract — Following the acquisition of Riptide Autonomous Solutions, BAE Systems FAST Labs’ autonomy and unmanned underwater vehicle engineers teamed to missionize a 9-inch diameter Riptide unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) for The Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX) demonstration in August 2019, hosted by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Newport Division. The work presented includes an overview of the design, integration, and demonstration of several modular autonomous sensing and communications payloads. The missionized Riptide software architecture promotes flexibility to plug and play future modular autonomous payloads developed across government, academia, and industry alike. Once deployed, the vehicle is designed to execute a military mission without any human intervention, including graceful recovery operations. Optional user commands are able to redirect the autonomous Riptide vehicle during mission execution; additionally, users can track mission progress through a real-time mission display. The ANTX-19 demonstration proved out the concept that a single tactical UUV could perform an information collection task without any human intervention, leveraging multiple sensor modalities and high-level mission autonomy. 1 Introduction management and mission control to extend system survivability and govern task progression. 1.1 Motivation A secondary objective of the Missionized Riptide UUV project was to lay the foundation for future mission Militaries could strongly benefit from tactical UUVs for extensions and interoperability with other payloads. This the performance of a myriad of naval tasks, acting as force included the development of a software interface which multipliers . A small class (<10” diameter) tactical UUV promoted application-only interaction with a common working singularly, or in a group can characterize message bus, baseline model-based systems engineering environments, survey vessels of interest, collect other (MBSE) implementations, rapid prototyping and information from the waterspace, and communicate that integration practices, and test infrastructure investment information to its manned counterparts over the horizon. and exercise. A Design Reference Mission (DRM) for a single tactical UUV was selected as being most representative of the 2 Approach typical tasks faced by a UUV in an information collection situation. In this case, UUVs and their payloads serve as 2.1 Wampus Overview long dwell information collection sources for vessel detection and identification. The need to conduct wide The resulting Small UUV System, dubbed Wampus, was area search, collect information of interest, and outfitted with a BAE Systems RF Sensor System (ported communicate over long distances with limited bandwidth directly from unmanned aerial vehicles), a retractable place high demands on mission system autonomy. mast, off-the-shelf panoramic camera, acoustic & radio communications, and a processor outfitted with mission 1.2 Objective controller software. The system was designed in a The purpose of the Missionized Riptide UUV MBSE environment, and development effort was to develop a UUV mission suite was designed, integrated capable of performing an information collection task and and tested within a five- demonstrating it at the Advanced Naval Technology month period. Wampus Exercise 2019 (ANTX-19). More specifically, we sought successfully demonstrated to develop a Small-class Riptide UUV with multi-modal the ability to geolocate a sensing, communications, and autonomy functionality to signal of interest, proceed to the vessel of interest, collect successfully perform the information collection task with close-area imagery of the vessel, and rendezvous with a no human intervention. The objective sensor payloads recovery platform, all while operating fully autonomously. included radio frequency (RF) and imagery sensor modalities. The objective autonomy functionality 2.2 Wampus Hardware Development included payload control to achieve smart energy Not export controlled per ES-FL-021720-0033 Approved for public release; unlimited distribution.
UDT 2020 UDT Extended Abstract Unmanned, Remotely Piloted & Autonomous Systems 2.2.1 Small-class UUV Development The mission computer integrated into Wampus was a prototype of BAE System’s SQUID INC ( S ecure BAE Systems’ Small-class vehicle platform (9.375 inch Q ualified U ndersea I ntegrated D evice for I dentify Friend diameter) represented the newest addition to the Riptide or Foe (IFF), N avigation & C ommunications) mission family of vehicles when it was redesigned in June processor. SQUID INC will provide cross-domain (air, 2019. The vehicle preserves the same modular, open sea, subsea), IFF, navigation, communication and mission- architecture and open source philosophy of its Riptide level autonomy capabilities in a commercial open systems predecessors; the nose contains navigation sensors and the architecture. Capabilities within the system are envisioned main processor; the tail has fin actuation, propulsion, as being Application (App)-based, with app accesses safety systems and communications; and the mid-body dependent upon the user’s security level , optimized for houses the battery system and power distribution. The interoperability with other software apps and hardware base vehicle is a dry volume, to which a wet section may instantiations, and tailored to task requirements. Specific be added to house subsystems that require direct contact capabilities incorporated into SQUID INC and with the water, as was done for the ANTX-19 payloads. demonstrated in ANTX-19 include those described in Section 2.4.3. 2.3 Sensors & Communications Payloads From a mechanical perspective, the most notable update to Wampus employed and autonomously controlled four the Small-class is the joining ring architecture, which sensor and communications payloads during ANTX-19. supports rapid prototyping activities and their associated Communications payloads included a commercial off-the- sustainment actions (e.g., battery replacement) by shelf radio and acoustic modem. The two sensor payloads removing much of the effort associated with vehicle are described next. deconstruction. Another significant update was to the battery system and mid-body housing for the battery assembly, which allow for repeated, precise placement of 2.3.1 RF Sensor Payload and improved cable management. Given that the battery represents a significant portion of the vehicle’s ballast and Although the RF sensor payload was initially designed for unmanned aerial vehicle use, its functionality and form trim weight, exact repeatable placement is adhered to the requirements for the UUV payload. important. Further improvements have been made to the Therefore, the core payload hardware was ported without fin shaft seals in the tail for smooth operation and modification from the UAV implementation. The antenna robustness. apertures were modified to provide a waterproof environmental seal and different frequency coverage. The 2.2.2 Mast Development SW baseline was modified to provide detection and identification of multiple maritime waveforms. The Wampus mast supported the camera, RF, GPS, and communications antennas. The prototype was based on a The UUV and support vessel both hosted an instance of “Roll a Tube” product that is currently used by ground the RF software, enabling cooperative geolocation forces. The advantages of this approach were a rigid, operating over a radio network. hydrodynamic mast structure that could be The system occupied just over 25 cubic inches of payload stored in a relatively low space, weighed less than 1.7 lbs, and its power volume, and allowed for consumption was 18.5 Watts under its heaviest processor approximately 5lbs of load. weight support. A mast structure was required to provide the transition space between the tube in its stored 2.3.2 Camera Payload form and its deployment in tubular form. Mounted to this The camera used was a lightweight 360-degree spherical mast structure were the camera and a boom that provided commercial camera. The camera was chosen based on its horizontal separation of GPS, RF communications and compact design and high image quality for future sensor antennas. programs and because it was an inexpensive option amenable to a proof-of-concept demonstration. 2.2.3 Mission Computer Processing Hardware Not export controlled per ES-FL-021720-0033 Approved for public release; unlimited distribution.
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