Autonomy Under at Sea a presentation that will consider how advancements in autonomy will lead to innovative solutions to today’s problems. During the presentation we will consider amongst others Saab’s autonomous vehicles AUV 62 AT and Anti-Submarine Warfare target and the hybrid vehicle Sabertooth.

Presenter Chris Lade,  Saab Seaeye

Commander Chris LadeRoyal Navy (Retd) joined the Royal Navy in 1980 after completing a Chemistry Degree at Exeter University. He qualified as a Minewarfare and Clearance Diving Officer four years later and served in four MCMVs finally commanding his own ship in 1994; he commanded the UK’s Defence Diving School 2004-2007. In 1987 he participated in Mine Countermeasures operations in the Arabian Gulf during the Iran/Iraq War and then in 2003, as head of the UK’s MCM Capability team, worked closely with the USN to deliver MCM effect in the Shatt el Arab campaign, Second Gulf War, he was instrumental in introducing a number of innovative new mine countermeasures systems to the Royal Navy during that conflict.

He joined Saab Seaeye in March 2012. During the last six years he has concentrated on the development of Mine Countermeasures Systems, working closely with amongst others the UK and US navies. He has led projects to develop an innovative Mine Neutralisation System and delivered a Waterborne IED Remotely Operated Vehicle, Sea Wasp, to the US Homeland Defence Department. He now shares his time between managing the Engineering Department at Seaeye in Fareham, UK and developing international business for Saab in the Defence Maritime sector.

With thanks to our hosts:

Please click here for the flyer

The subsea industry has advanced at a significant rate since inception in the 1960s. How do we manage diversity across vendors, operators and applications? How do we cope with the historic approach of customised supply for each project, and how can we make operations easier for the subsea industry of the future, currently going through a rejuvenation? “Optimisation and Maximising Efficiency” seeks to discuss latest initiatives providing standardisation and optimisation to the subsea industry, improving efficiency and maximising economic recovery.

Shreekant Mehta, OTM
JIPs are about collaborating to push the boundaries of technology, and an excellent way to optimise and realise efficiency savings. A subset of JIPs run by OTM focus on standardising technology – still through collaboration, but with a different end goal.
With 25 years experience of starting and running JIPs, OTM will present the remit of some of the standardisation JIPs that we have undertaken and completed, and some that are currently running.
We will bring these to life by discussing practices implemented to drive joint industry efforts to success – driving optimisation and efficiency.

Anthony Clarke, BEL Valves
Engineered Products
An illustration of the savings and efficiencies achievable through the standardisation of specifications, design, project processing and project management.

Alistair Birnie, Ashtead Technology
Deploying Innovation in a Standardised World
Standardisation can inhibit and at times block evolving technologies and innovation that could lead to cost reduction and higher quality data. However there are ways to mitigate this through management of interfaces and functionality at the appropriate level that can open up standardised systems to allow innovation to continue, particularly for information based systems. This issue continues to grow in subsea infrastructure, offshore survey & IRM applications where technologies continue to move faster and become more sophisticated.

Please click here for the flyer.

Who were Aileen, Caroline, Eleanor and Dylan??

Last year, a strong team from Wood ran away with the honors; this year promises to be more competitive as our usual quiz masters (Bob Inglis and Ray Ebsworth) will be back setting the questions and not chasing the laurels of victory…

All Learned Members of the SUT are invited to attend the London and South East Branch’s 5th Annual Pub Quiz at the Ye Olde Watling, 29 Watling Street, EC4M 9BR.  Planned start time 7pm, probable finish time 10pm with a buffet served between rounds.

Corporate Members are invited to send teams (5 person teams are ideal) with suitably knowing names; individual members can form a winning team on the night. 

There is a limit on 60 attendees due to space restrictions at the venue and as such all teams and persons are encouraged to pre-register to avoid bitter disappointment on the night.

Following the quiz, there will be ample opportunity to toast success or drown sorrows at the bar.

Many thanks to our sponsor ATV 

Ocean X-Prize – Team Tao
Professor Nick Wright and Team Tao
Having successfully passed round 1 the team is focussed on the final challenge – Map 500km2; 4000m deep, fully autonomously, find the target and return all the data to land in 24hrs – $7M prize purse.
“Having seen what the teams are proposing, if this competition is a success, there is no doubt in my mind that we will have made history by collectively changing this world” Dr. Jyotika Virmani
Team Tao, a partnership between SMD and Newcastle University, are the only remaining UK team in the competition and will present their solution and some of the challenges they have faced along the way.

Advancements in Robotics – Sonardyne
Elizabeth Paull
Sonardyne has been working on hybrid navigation systems which tightly integrate all raw sensor data at a low level to provide unprecedented improved accuracy and reliability. A hybrid navigator adapts to make best use of the on-board sensors by fusing inertial technology with acoustics instruments. The result is transforming subsea robot missions. Hybrid navigation enables the systems to dead-reckon for longer and more accurately. Aided by acoustics it achieves navigation precise enough to dynamically draw 3D point clouds using laser scanners mounted on the vehicles.

Post talk refreshments
Networking and a finger buffet is provided to close off the evening event. This event is jointly held between the IEEE and SUT NE Branch. Pre-registration is required so we can cater for the anticipated numbers.

Registration from 6pm Presentations 630pm

Meeting Report