Electronics Weekly
The competition sought to encourage innovative technology in marine renewable energy, to enable “more persistent and pervasive ocean observing”.
The two companies together submitted the “Mission Unlimited UUV Station”, to power and transfer data from unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV). The next phase is the Develop competition, says Northrop Grumman, where the winners of the prize will actually produce their designs.
Pictured above is Northrop Grumman’s NiobiCon wet-mateable connectors, which enable underwater power transfer and data exchange without using seals, oil or moving parts.
There are three key technologies to power and transfer data from unmanned underwater vehicles.
NiobiCon connectors charge the UUVs – Northrop Grumman’s self-insulating electrical connector can be mated or de-mated while the fully powered electrical contacts are submerged underwater.
Thermal energy harvesting provides energy – Seatrec’s design extracts energy from the ocean’s vertical temperature gradient and converts it to stored electricity.
Finally, data bubbles transfer data – Northrop Grumman’s data bubbles transport large amounts of data from the subsea to the end-user by RF satellite communications. You can view a video of the system.
Pictured below are two Seatrec energy harvesting modules attached to a profiling float, going as deep as 1000m, says the company.
UUVs and autonomous undersea vehicles (AUVs) are still energy-limited, highlights Northrop, usually surfacing at least once a day to offload data or receive a power a recharge. This is both costly and time consuming.
“The Mission Unlimited UUV Station design will provide scalable underwater charging and data transfer,” said Alan Lytle, vice president, undersea systems, Northrop Grumman. “Extending the endurance, working time and utility of unmanned underwater vehicles directly supports the U.S. Navy’s focus on distributed maritime operations.”
