ARETE ASSOCIATES — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N221-033

Description

Areté proposes to develop, deliver, and integrate SAPS – a Sense and Avoid Payload System for small class (7.5”) and larger Unmanned Underwater Vessels (UUVs) enabling safe maneuvering and navigation in both the surface and undersea domains.   SAPS enables UUVs to identify potential surface or near surface contacts, obstacles, or features to ascertain if the environment is safe for the UUV to ascend and conduct operations.  Awareness, tracking, and identification of potential surface contacts within 10 nautical miles of the UUV objective areas is enabled through SAPS passive acoustic augmented with active acoustic and an upward looking camera system providing enhanced detection, tracking, and identification.  Onboard processing using Areté’s low Size, Weight, and Power (low SWaP) embedded processor currently integrated on the MK18 Family of Systems (FoS).  For UUVs configured with Areté’s Video Automatic Target Recognition (VATR) Common Module (VCM), all SAPS processing can be executed onboard the VCM.  Several of the major components of SAPS can be integrated into the current VCM Integration Kits allowing a clear integration strategy without adversely affecting trim, balance, or hydrodynamic performance.  SAPS will be designed as a low power payload drawing well less than 50W.