Back in 2006 / 2007, I proposed that we put AIS transcievers on
Autonomous {Underwater,Surface} vehicles (AUV/ASV). This would aid in
recovery operations and allow a vehicle to advertise it's current
location and maybe even it's area of operation with an extra area
notice message (8:001:22). I even got a vender to write up what it
would take to design a unit that would work well for an autonomous
vehicle because Class A and B units just don't make sense and the ATON
spec is a world of stupid.
When I talked to the USCG about that, I was told in some rather overly clear language that I would not do that in US waters. No way, no how.
Now this... (yeah, I am a little behind)
When I talked to the USCG about that, I was told in some rather overly clear language that I would not do that in US waters. No way, no how.
Now this... (yeah, I am a little behind)
November 19, 2012 Docket Management Facility (M-30) U.S. Department of Transportation West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE. Washington, DC 20590-0001 Reference: Department of Homeland Security, Docket USCG-2012-0212 Subject: UUV Manufacturers' Concerns Regarding NAVSAC Task 08-07, Resolution 11-02 Proposed Changes to Inland and COLREGS to Address Unmanned Underwater and Unmanned Surface Vehicles To Whom It May Concern, The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) is aware that the Navigation Safety Advisory Council (NAVSAC), an industry advisory body to the U.S. Coast Guard, has proposed revisions to the existing Navigation Rules that will affect unmanned maritime vehicles. AUVSI believes the proposed regulations would be highly impractical for most widely-used Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs), but especially for UUVs under 8m in length and 1m in diameter. The proposed new rules would have a significant impact on the industry and the U.S. Navy, on the performance and cost of the vehicles, and would provide very little benefit in terms of maritime safety. Since UUVs are not remotely piloted because of the inability to maintain constant communication with them, they should not be subject to rules for manned vessels. UUV Manufacturers could generally acknowledge that the new regulations may be relevant for large diameter UUVs which might create a potential hazard for navigation ...I never got around to finishing this post. It seems that the current view out there from the US Navy / USCG (DHS) is that they are now going to mandate some sort of "watch standing" for autonomous vehicles and there are suggestions that AIS transmit of position may become required in the near future. I haven't researched all this enough to really know what is going on and I am seriously out of the loop.