Unmanned Surface Vessels and Aerial Vehicles Caharcteristics

Surface Vessels

Wave Glider is an unmanned marine system (UMS) unmanned surface vehicle with full autonomous capability. It is produced by Liquid Robotics, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company (Wave glider, 2019). Ten feet long, it employs wave energy to propel itself forward with complimentary use of stored solar power for additional trust (Wave glider, 2019). Wave Glider has an endurance of up to 12 months depending on the weather conditions and, with a speed of 1.6 knots, the theoretical maximum range of up to 14,000 sea miles (2019). Its acquisition costs amount to $300,000, and operating costs are around $130 per hour (Unmanned Maritime Systems, 2015). In 2007-2015, more than 200 Wave Gliders were successfully produced and delivered (Unmanned Maritime Systems, 2015). Considering this, there are no particular risks involved in employing this system.

C-Enduro MKII is a UMS unmanned surface vehicle with full autonomous capability. It is produced by L3Harris Technologies (C-Enduro, 2019). Sixteen feet long, it uses solar and wind energy supplemented with a diesel generator to power its 2 DC brushless motors (C-Enduro, 2019). C-Enduro has endurance from 30 to 90 days, depending on weather conditions, and, with a speed of 6.5 knots, the theoretical maximum range of up to 14,000 sea miles (2019). Its acquisition costs amount to $500,000 and operating costs, due to greater complexity and necessity to use diesel fuel, are higher than those of Wave Glider (Unmanned Maritime Systems, 2015). Just as the Wave Glider, C-Enduro is a mature system with no particular associated risks.

Both options have a similar range, although Wave Glider demonstrates greater endurance. C-Enduro MKII offers a higher speed and diversified power supply. Still, if speed is not the primary concern, Wave Glider is a preferable choice due to its better endurance and lower acquisition and operating costs.

Unmanned Aircraft Systems

ALTI Ascend is an unmanned aerial system (UAS) capable of high-definition (HD) photography and vertical take-off and landing (VTOL). It is produced by the South African company ALTI (ALTI Ascend, 2019). With a weight of 20 pounds, ALTI Ascend has sustained flight time of 6 hours, a maximum speed of 75 Km/h, and a theoretical range of 450 Km, although the practical range is lower (2019). Its acquisition costs amount to at least $35,000, and operating costs are $3 per hour (ALTI Ascend, 2019). No particular risks associated with the purchase of this system have been identified.

DeltaQuad is a UAS capable of HD photography and VTOL. It is produced by the Dutch company Vertical Solutions (DeltaQuad, n.d.). With a weight of 13.7 pounds, it has sustained flight time of 1 hour 50 minutes, a maximum speed of 90 Km/h, and a practical maximum range of 100 Km (DeltaQuad, n.d.). Its acquisition costs amount to ¬19,600 or roughly $21,700 in 2019 prices (Comparison of VTOL mapping drones, 2019). It exhausts its 23Ah battery in 110 minutes, while ALTI Ascend uses four batteries of 25.2Ah in total in 300 minutes, meaning it has higher energy consumption and operating costs (Technical Datasheet, 2019; DeltaQuad, n.d.). No particular risks associated with the purchase of this system have been identified.

Both options satisfy all the criteria with some differences in cost, range, and flight time. ALTI Ascend demonstrates greater flight time and range. DeltaQuad features lower acquisition costs and slightly higher speed. Despite higher acquisition costs, ALTI Ascend is a preferable option due to its superior aerial characteristics, and lower energy consumption and, therefore, operating costs will mitigate higher initial acquisition costs.