ROBOTIC “SWARM” BOATS COULD PROTECT US WARSHIPS

US Navy Demonstrates Swarming Technique of its Drone Boats

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has released video of tests conducted in August that showed a small group of “drone” boats swarming a hostile vessel that posed a threat to a US Navy ship. The drone boats are controlled by a system called Control Architecture for Robotic Agent Command and Sensing (CARACaS), a transferable kit consisting of a sensor and advanced software. The exercise involved five small autonomous boats acting as a protection detail for a larger, higher-value vessel as it cruised along the James River in Virginia, US. When the smaller drone boats detected a hostile vessel heading their way, they changed course and swarmed the approaching ship.

This new system gives the Navy the ability to “deter, damage or destroy” hostile vessels before they get close enough to a warship to do any damage. The attack on the USS Cole in October 2000 is a reminder of the threat small vessels can pose to warships in ports or narrow waterways. During that attack, Al-Qaeda drove an inflatable rubber boat into the USS Cole and blew a large hole in its side killing 17 sailors on board. The CARACaS kit would allow the Navy to transform any small boat in its inventory into a sophisticated Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) capable of defense and offense. The CARACaS software was developed by NASA for the Mars rover and adapted through ONR support for autonomous swarming. The system combines artificial intelligence, machine perception and distributed data fusion.