48 unmanned systems
inside
August/September ugust/Septe August/September August/September be August/September 2016 0 2016 6 2016
MARINE NEW TECHNOLOGY
Photos courtesy of Planck Aerosystems
A
San Diego firm is poised to test auto-
mated takeoff and landing technol-
ogy that will enable drones to oper-
ate without a pilot from smaller fishing vessels
while the boats are moving—a breakthrough
that supports "precision fishing."
Planck Aerosystems, Inc. is developing "the
underlying technology to put small, commer-
cially available, unmanned aircraft, or drones,
on a boat of any size," said Josh Wells, the firm's
cofounder and CEO, during a July presentation
to a meeting of the House Oceans Caucus and
the Marine Technology Society in Washington.
Equipping fishermen with drones will en-
able them to better target the species of fish
they are looking for, he told lawmakers, reduc-
ing the amount of bait needed and the amount
of bycatch—the nontarget species caught and
frequently killed by fishing boats. More effi-
cient operations will also cut fuel consumption
by "giving the fishermen the ability to spend
by Dee Ann Divis
Automated drone
launches and
landings could
help small-
scale fishermen
compete against
global firms and
ease some of the
strain on ocean
species.
less time searching for fish and more time
catching fish," Wells said.
Operating entirely autonomously, the drones
would give Planck's customers visual capabil-
ity over the horizon and "real-time, actionable
data to allow them to make better decisions at
sea," Wells said. The unmanned aircraft sys-
tem or UAS will send back an enhanced set of
data including sea surface temperatures and
live streaming video. The very small, very low-
cost systems the firm is developing should also
be able to do automated object identification—
a capability that will help fishermen operating
on a smaller scale compete with international
corporations.
There's been an explosion of companies that
are doing precision something, Wells said—
precision agriculture, precision inspection.
"We at Planck are developing the underlying
technology necessary to enable the same level
of service in the ocean environment, he said.
NEW AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGY ENABLES
"PRECISION FISHING"
DRONES
Top left: A multi-
spectral image of
kelp and plankton,
captured from a
Planck drone.
Bottom left: Planck
Aero flies its platform
and payload in its
test facility.