An unmanned submarine is in development that could generate its own power, essentially allowing it to embark on missions with no upper time limit.
The project is being funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), an R&D agency of the US Department of Defense.
While the planned Manta Ray submarine would be a vehicle with military applications, the technology could also eventually help in civilian mapping and environmental missions.
DARPA has awarded contracts to private firms to build the first prototype demos of the vehicles, along with the energy-harvesting system.
The project aims to deliver a new class of submarine that is able to deploy a payload on a long-duration and long-range mission.
This payload could be something of a military nature, such as electronic warfare technology or mines, but could potentially also include a wide range of sensors and other equipment for exploring and monitoring the undersea environment.
The sub will be fitted with AI systems to help it to navigate, avoid obstacles, and deal with unexpected occurrences such as failures in various internal systems.
The biggest area of innovation is in energy gathering, however.
The craft is shaped similarly to its namesake, with a flattened body and fins that help it glide through the water while expending as little energy as possible.
Craft could use a number of methods to generate power
However, it still needs to generate power, which poses a number of challenges for a submersible.
Unmanned surface craft have previously made use of a combination of wave and solar energy to provide effectively unlimited range, but these are not readily accessible sources underwater.
One potential energy source is a thermal engine, which uses heat from surrounding water to warm wax-filled tubes mounted on the craft.
This causes the wax to expand, which can create either buoyancy or generate electricity.
Thermoelectric modules can be used to generate small but significant amounts of electricity using the temperature differences between different areas of the craft.
A report in Forbes suggests that a clue to another potential energy source was provided by a picture of the Manta Ray with a smaller vehicle tethered above it.
This could be an ‘underseas kite’, which utilises the different water flows at different levels or depths.
This is similar to various power-generation kites being developed on land as an alternative to traditional wind turbines.
Today’s news was brought to you by TD SYNNEX – the UK’s number one solutions distributor.
Read more of our latest Industry Updates stories
