Retrieval at Sea

摘要

The US Navy uses powered, unmanned boats for various operations. Retrieving the boats from the water quickly and safely is a challenge. To meet this need, the US Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program awarded a grant to promote the development of a retrieval system to Allied Systems Company, a manufacturer of heavy-duty marine crane robotics.rnTo move from concept to development of a scale working model, Allied Systems joined with Concept Systems-a custom integration company. Concept Systems, in turn, drew upon its automation project experience, contacting leaders in the areas of vision and motion control. The result is AutoLARs (automatic launch and recovery system).rnDoug Taylor, Concept Systems lead engineer, says that the project began as a brain-trust between himself and his counterpart from Allied Systems, Joel Dille. "We actually started with a LEGO model that Joel put together at home. We watched videos on retrievable systems and went to conferences," he says.