National Oceanography Centre’s (NOC) latest Autosub Long Range (ALR) vehicle has completed its first live trials in the waters of Portland Harbour in Dorset.
The new autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), ALR1500, passed its first major test in Portland Harbour, demonstrating its integration with the unified Command and Control (C2) software platform that has been developed in parallel by the NOC in partnership with the Scottish Association for Marine Science, under the Oceanids programme.
These trials have shown that the vehicle’s hardware and software systems are communicating effectively with each other, which provides a solid platform as ever more advanced features are added.
ALR1500 is one of three vehicles that will further enhance the advanced marine observing capabilities available to the UK science community.
Optimized for surveying the continental shelf and upper slope, ALR1500 will have the potential for long endurance missions covering hundreds to thousands of kilometers over periods of several weeks to months.
Further trials scheduled to take place in Loch Ness in the coming months will test the vehicle’s enhanced functionality, including Terrain Aided Navigation and environmental profiling capabilities.