Chinese Unmanned Surface Vessel:From Technology Followship to Leadership

Liu Ying

Zhang Yunfei, the founder and Chairman of Oceanalpha introduced Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV)technology as requested at the 4th China-Israel Technology Innovation Investment Conference held at the beginning of July. Why was Israel jointly leading unmanned Surface Vessel technology with US interested in the views of Chinese enterprises?

In 2007, the US Navy released“The Navy Unmanned Surface Vessel Master Plan”, developed standards for USV type, size and tasks and initiated an USV era worldwide. Thereafter,its key core technologies are in the hands of US and Israel navy research institutions and a technical blockade was imposed. In 2014, the launch of the "Navigator" high-speed Unmanned Surface Vessel marked that China has mastered the key core technology of the marine unmanned craft after the two countries mentioned above. The joint demonstration of unmanned sea,land and air systems consisting of unmanned vehicles, UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles) and USV was staged at Zhuhai Parallel Session of the 2018 CCTV Spring Festival Evening Gala-- on the Pearl River in the night,81 USVs in parading across the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and formed two Chinese characters “Qi Hang” (meaning setting sails), which really amazed the audience. Previously,only the US military conducted USV multiple ship coordinated operation in the world, with 13 USV.

“From 2007 to today, Chinese USV industry has made concerted effort in innovation, completely relied on independent R&D, and now realized a leap from technology followership to leadership and is in the teeth of the storm of global USV development,”commented Zhang Yunfei on Chinese USV development history during an interview by the correspondent.

Product R&D Speeds Up

Zhang Yunfei said Oceanalpha was incorporated in 2010 and was the Chinese earliest high-technology enterprise dedicated to USV. The Company has carried out independent R&D against the backdrop of global USV development,in combination with its own actual conditions, and with USV application in the environmental protection sector as sally port, developed world first environmental measurement USV with complete independent IPRs in 2013,started to grasp autonomous navigation-- the key core technology of USV, and Zhang Yunfei consequently won Grand Champion for National Champion of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Contest.

Since then, Oceanalpha product R&D has expedited in the model of“application breakthrough + technical accumulation”. In 2014, the Company broke through the marine USV technical difficulty and successfully developed the high-speed unmanned vessel"Navigator", filling a domestic void.The "Navigator" model was presented to Chinese Premier and Russian Prime Minister at the Third Moscow International Innovation Development Forum held that year. In August 2016,the Company once again concurred USV autonomous navigation technology in open waters, only 19 months later than the US Navy, with technology ranking world top three.

Show Muscles in a Variety of Fields

2018央视春晚现场，无人艇协同编队“启航”列阵

Zhang Yunfei told the correspondent that with successive birth of USV in recent years, they have played an important role in environmental measurement, ocean survey, safety and protection rescue and even military application. As the sole USB emergency detachment of the Ministry of Environmental Protection,Oceanalpha USV took the spotlight in Tianjin port explosions, Gansu Shaanxi taililngs leakage and Henan Xixia water pollution among other environmental emergency accidents and the Ministry of Environmental Protection wrote to appreciate the Company on three occasions. In 2017, after a time interval of 40-plus years, China once more initiated a large-scale comprehensive scientific survey of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Oceanalpha USV took part in the major scientific survey of the Earth “Third Pole”.

What is worth mentioning is that in China’s 34th Antarctic Scientific Research which started in November 2017, China’s first submarine detection UUV M80B developed by Oceanalpha went to Unspeakable Island waters in poor natural conditions accompanying “Xue Long”ice breaker. Marked by tough climatic conditions and complicated and diversified hydrodynamic environment,the area awaiting exploration brought about a great challenge for “Xue Long”navigation. This means the application of a traditional manned survey ship for underwater topographic survey operation would evolve huge risks. UUV M80B operated 14h, excellently accomplished the mission of 5km2 water multi-beam full-coverage submarine topographical survey, not only filling the regional data void, but also providing basic spatial geographic information data for arctic navigation of ship and construction of China’s fifth scientific survey station.

Technology Outpaces World Level

At whatever level is China USV technology in relation to US and Israeli then? Zhang Yunfei said Oceanalpha had had more than 100 patents and patent applications as of the end of 2017,including 3 PCT international patents and 57 invention patents, accounting for 27% of global USV patents. This means Oceanalpha has broken through a series of USV key technologies such as autonomous control, clustered control, overall design,stealth design, nanometer material, remote communication and so on. Autonomous control, new material, integrated design and overall design (system integration) are USV “3+1” key core technologies.

“Technical gaps between China and US and Israel are narrowing down,” Zhang Yunfei said the core control technology of “Full autonomous navigation in open waters without interference” grasped by Oceanalpha at the end of 2016 has a gap of only a little more than one year with current world top-notch level. Not only so, the Company has realized world leading in a several technologies of autonomous navigation, smart avoidance of obstacle,and cooperative control.

To master technology, we must master standards. For the purpose of boosting industry innovation development,Oceanalpha took charge of the development of six industry standards.CCS released “Guidelines for Survey of Unmanned Surface Vessels” at the end of 2017. The guard patrol USV Watchman obtained the global first USV principal approval certificate issued by CCS,indicating China’s USV industry has started standard and orderly development.As the only enterprise, Oceanalpha actively participated in the development of the Guidelines. Zhang Yunfei told the correspondent his company was taking charge of several national standards for the USV industry, national ocean USV industry standards, etc.

International Leading in Synergetic Control of Formation

Different from ships, in addition to technical level of each product,synergetic control capability of formation of several USV is crucial. According to Zhang Yunfei, wind, wave, surge and flow imposed on each vessel varies in the USV formation, to form a specific formation or maintain the formation, each vessel must compared the planned path with the trajectory at any time and in any place and make real-time autonomous control correction; to realize shorttime efficient formation change, each USV must autonomously plan and select optimal and the shortest path based on its own ambient conditions to arrive at formation position. This means each USV in the formation has an independent brain to think. Therefore, their mutual communication and temporal and spacial synergy becomes a top priority.

The US Navy performed a 13-USV beehive combat test in one drill dated August 2014 with a view to escorting an important target mother ship. This is the largest ever overseas USV synergetic formation in open reports. However, only five of the 13 USV had their own brains under automatic control, whereas the rest eight were remote controlled.

In comparison, Oceanalpha realized 56-USV synergetic formation on its Wanshan sea test facility in February of 2018, each vessel had independent comprehensive information processing capability and decision-making capability, tests items were completed,covering USV cluster formation keeping,dynamic task allocation, autonomous change of formation, synergetic avoidance of obstacle and fault-tolerant control,realizing upgrading of the boat group from passive synergy to active synergy. This is the first time in the world, indicating China USV synergetic control technology has reached the international leading level.

This means several USV can make synergetic formation in massive waters and conduct gapless “scan” in ocean simultaneous observation, ocean survey,petroleum prospecting, underwater search and detection, thus substantially improving operation efficiency at sea.

“Surface robots represented by USV will override the traditional operation way in the sea.” Looking forward industry development, Zhang Yunfei pledged USV would change and drive up the development of maritime course in the near future with more efficient and economical advantages, by new task load, new operation ways and high density cluster synergy and other unprecedented ways. “The future is uncertain, and the only thing invariable is that Chinese enterprises must master key technology, constantly iterate and update USV technology and products,thus maintaining leading position in competition.”