Bayonet Ocean Vehicles has showcased the capabilities of its autonomous underwater ground vehicles in the UK for the first time. The demonstrations took place on the eve of Ocean Business 2023 on the shores of Southampton’s Itchen River, covering a wide range of applications and end user scenarios, as well as the features of the Bayonet line of vehicles including portability, payload capability, and ease of operation.
The Bayonet 250 is the mid-size in the three vehicle Bayonet range, taking its name from its 250lb (113kg) deck capacity, with a working range of 24km on land and 10km underwater. Tool free in-field assembly for two-person portability, its design allows for heavier weather and larger payloads than the one-person portable Bayonet 150. For payloads up to 350lb (159kg) the Bayonet 350 is the largest vehicle in the range.
Deployable from land or water independent of weather, the Bayonet crawlers have been designed to transit along the ocean floor in depths of up to 100 meters as well as on land, making them the only robotic platform in the world capable of working in the notoriously challenging surf zone.
The Bayonet 150, 250, and 350 amphibious crawlers are built on OPENSEA, the fully open architecture software platform developed by marine robotics specialist Greensea Systems. Benefiting from this state-of-the-art software, the crawlers offer precision navigation, payload integration, autonomy, and over-the-horizon command and control, and, combined with robust hardware, cover a wide range of possible payloads and applications to support accurate working in the most challenging of environments.
Bayonet Ocean Vehicles can be fitted with a variety of environmental, oceanographic, hydrographic, benthic and industry specific sensors to accommodate the numerous commercial and military applications of the vehicles, including but not limited to:
- Cable transit surveys
- Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) applications
- Port inspections
- Offshore wind surveys
- Rapid environmental assessment
- Surf observations
- Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD)
- Sound propagation
Nick Hartman, VP Strategy and Growth and General Manager of Bayonet Ocean Vehicles, was delighted with the interest in this first UK demonstration: “We have had an unbelievable week here in the UK during Ocean Business. We have demonstrated and matched Bayonet’s capabilities with requirements sought by representatives from offshore wind development, specifically for geotechnical inspections and survey of the sea to shore interface. Defence continues to be a primary driver and need of the Bayonet crawlers for mine detection and UXO detection. The strength in depth of attendance shows how these capable vehicles stand poised to offer solutions today for multiple subsea and surf zone data collection challenges, and far beyond the initial defence industry references.”
Rob Howard, CGO of Greensea, added: “Response to the capability of the Bayonet platform this week has been tremendous. Many operators we spoke with were thrilled with the payload adaptability to cover multiple roles for nearshore survey and UXO operations, highlighting the ability of the OPENSEA software to advance and field new equipment to gather data in harsh environments not currently served.”
