2017 Innovation UK Award: AutoNaut for extreme environments

Project Period: 01/2018-12/2020

Project Value: £395K

Professor Meiling Zhu, Dr Zheng Jun Chew and Dr Yang Kuang of the Energy Harvesting Research Group at the University of Exeter are participating an Innovation UK grant for research into “AutoNaut for extreme environments”. The research grant is awarded from the Research and Development Competition for Robotic and Artificial Intelligence (RAI) in Extreme and Challenging Environments and funded through Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) Scheme in 2017.

The aim of this project is to develop a wave propelled unmanned surface vessel (USV) capable of working autonomously, in winter, in the notoriously hazardous Antarctic and Arctic seas, such as the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties. It is a partnership project led by AutoNaut Ltd, with the Universities of East Anglia and Exeter.