Why change or rather not take inspiration from successful evolutionary solutions, developed over millions of years by Nature? This technological concept, which is lost over time, has been embraced since the last century in many scientific research laboratories which have created successful technical solutions in both the aeronautical and naval fields. It is the field of biomimicry (in English called biomimicry), a discipline that studies the mechanical processes of nature to find "new inspirations" and make our technologies more efficient.
Many solutions are derived from the combination of technology inspired by nature: for example, the first tapered hulls of ships were inspired by the shape of fish and the fins of divers (first designed by Leonardo da Vinci) are a derivation of observations made on the anatomy of amphibians and fish. More recently, some micro-drones, which find applications in many disciplines, are inspired by the flight of insects.
A technological “Manta”.
Northrop Grumman, an American company that has been at the forefront of the underwater industry for over 50 years, is developing a new class of unmanned underwater drones (UUV - uncrewed underwater vehicle) which not surprisingly takes its name from the Manta, the enormous "winged" fish that we all know.
The program manta ray, started in 2020, aims to develop a new class of UUV for persistent operations in dynamic maritime environments on long-range, long-duration missions in ocean environments based on specifications drawn up by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, government agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of new technologies for military use, ed.). In addition to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation the development of the vehicle was contracted to Martin Defense Group, LLC and to Metron, Inc. while the energetic aspects a PacMar.
The program aims to develop UUVs that operate for extended periods without the need for human logistical support or on-site maintenance, by optimizing their energy management, indeed producing the necessary energy on site. The objective is the reliability of the vehicle and its ability to navigate according to pre-established routes (avoiding any underwater obstacles).
Initially conceived for a military purpose (although its use in the civilian field appears equally attractive for oceanographic research), the manta ray will command, control and communication capabilities (C3) to enable long-duration operations with minimal human supervision, and will be equipped with a large load capacity, making it an extremely useful tool during maritime surveillance operations that it can perform discreetly and effectively.
A full-scale prototype of this new vehicle was developed by Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, following DARPA guidelines to determine the feasibility of its use in maritime security missions.
Il manta ray In summary:
– it will be equipped with an adequate load capacity to carry different instruments depending on the type of mission, and will have a long autonomy;
– it can be programmed with the possibility of being able to rest on the seabed and “hibernate”, setting itself in a low consumption state during which it can recharge its batteries;
– will be available in modular form, for easy shipping (in five standard containers) worldwide.
But how did this ambitious program begin?
In the early years of the third millennium, numerous working groups were created to evaluate the feasibility of making unmanned vehicles as autonomous as possible. Aerial and naval drones of all shapes and sizes were born, favored by the miniaturization of electronic components and new communication technologies. The idea was to make these means as autonomous as possible to reduce the human presence in crisis areas. This was particularly exciting in the underwater world where vehicles, now also widely used in the civilian field, proved reliable. From relatively small vehicles we moved on to increasingly larger vehicles such as the LUUV and now the XLUUV.
Among the ongoing programs, in early 2021, the program was approved manta ray which, after an initial feasibility study, began the following phase for the manufacturing of a prototype and the carrying out of the first tests.
The futuristic prototype has now completed in-water testing off the coast of Southern California and Hawaii between February and March 2024, demonstrating its excellent hydrodynamic performance both on the surface and submerged. The multidisciplinary program is led by DARPA which has been actively working together with the US Navy for some time to develop the design of many ships and autonomous vehicles.
USN Frigate Captain Dr. Kyle Woerner, DARPA program manager for the project manta ray, said in a note: “The successful tests we have conducted with the Manta Ray validate the vehicle's readiness to advance to real-world operations after being rapidly assembled in the field from modular subsections. Once redeployed, the underwater vehicle (acting like a glider) uses an efficient glide, modifying its attitude like a manta ray to move elegantly through the water. The hull is designed with different load capacities, both in size and typology, to allow a wide variety of naval missions”. But not just military: according to Woerner and researcher Kelley Ruehl of the Sandia National Laboratory, who provides consultancy on energy aspects, “The Manta Ray project was born… from the need to better understand the ocean environment and to be able to have underwater vehicles that lasted longer than the [usual] order of measurement of a couple of hours or a couple of days”, creating an autonomous underwater vehicle that operates alone, autonomously collecting the energy necessary to complete any mission entrusted to it. In this regard, PacMar is following the energy part, developing low energy consumption energy collection and storage systems, important components for the development of self-sustainable technologies necessary for manta ray.
In summary, the program manta ray is progressing successfully. The United States Navy, like other American Defense commands, aided by robotics and artificial intelligence, is developing new technologies that are proving force multipliers in research and development, to create a future "hybrid" fleet of platforms of different types (manned and unmanned).
manta ray it is not the only program in the field of UUVs (recently the US Navy received the first Orca for long-range uses to be used in surveillance and/or oceanographic research operations.
We'll talk about it again...
Photo: Northrop Grumman / web
(article originally published on https://www.ocean4future.org)
