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The Maritime, Enterprise, Innovation and Research (MEIR) unit are looking for key technologies that will significantly improve the ability for unmanned/ autonomous systems to operate in the underwater environment, by expanding their use and employ-ability for military and commercial use. Proposals will be welcomed through the DASA Open Call for Innovation.
The MEIR challenges will be briefed in detail at the MEIR Conference at the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow) on 24 January 2018. MEIR members, which include the Royal Navy and MOD subject matter experts, will be on hand at this event to discuss the technical detail behind the challenges. Representatives from the DASA team will be present to discuss how the Open Call will support this.
There are 2 specific challenges for which the Royal Navy seeks innovative technologies to resolve, by:
- Providing, or contributing towards, low power, high accuracy navigation for unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV).
This challenge is based on the fact that current UUV navigation systems tend to rely on relatively high power inertial systems. A low power solution would enable greater endurance or increased capability, and utility could be increased through expanding the ability to navigate without input from other traditional autonomous navigation sensors (for example, GPS).
- Allowing longer duration operations from autonomous systems.
This challenge is based on expanding system range and endurance through advanced energy management and generation, energy scavenging and storage, and the use of low power systems.
MEIR aims to bring together Users, SMEs, Tier1 Industry partners, DASA and Defence Innovation funding to develop a clear exploitation path to solve/assist solving complex maritime problems in the underwater environment through creativity and collaboration.
If you are interested in registering for this event, please get in touch directly with the University of Strathclyde on