Sail-powered drone may change the way we study the oceans
American company, Saildrone, thinks its wind-powered surfers will revolutionise oceanography.
Looking like a high-tech unmanned windsurfer, Saildrone’s uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) looks set to change the way we study the oceans. Predominantly wind and solar powered, the data-collection drones can go where deeper draft vessels can’t.
The bright orange USVs have a minimal carbon footprint and are equipped with a range of sensors and AI technology that can gather data from any ocean, at any time of the year. Possible applications include maritime domain awareness, oceanography and cartography.
Saildrone says all operational and data collection is encrypted and secure, and with low running and maintenance costs in comparison to a manned vessel, the company’s USV can perform much of the work of conventional survey vessels at a fraction of the cost.
