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Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Navy develop a low-cost soft robot that is capable of burrowing through underwater granular media with the goal of detecting buried mines in the littoral zone.
The Navy currently detects and neutralizes undersea mines using a combination of platforms that rely on sonar, laser and optical searching methods. The process is effective at detecting individual mines suspended in the water column and lightly buried in the seabed; however, it is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and can be impractical to implement in a contested environment. A low-cost, untethered solution that can be deployed to better characterize mines and buried objects in the littoral environment will both increase mission safety and lead to faster mine clearing operations. In order to meet the Navy’s needs, Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) and their university partner will develop the Soft Extending Autonomous Robot for Clearing Hazards (SEARCH). The SEARCH is a compact soft robot that burrows into the seabed to autonomously characterize buried objects within a 10-meter radius of its deployed position.
For more information contact:
Mr. Alex Moerlein
Group Leader, Fielded Mechanisms
amoerlein@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
Office: (978) 689-0003
Acknowledgement of Sponsorship: This work is supported under a contract with the Naval Air Warfare Center. This support does not constitute an express or implied endorsement on the part of the Government.