Integer Technologies, a small South Carolina-based company, has successfully tested at sea a virtual model that runs onboard a small unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), giving insights and data into the performance of the submersible as it is operating, which otherwise is challenging due to difficulties communicating with undersea vessels.
The successful tests of the digital twin technology aboard the REMUS 100 UUV were conducted during a one-year Phase 2 contract Integer has with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency under the Defining and Leveraging Digital Twins in Autonomous Undersea Operations (DELTA) effort. The REMUS is made by HII [HII].
Integer received the $1.5 million small business innovation research award on Sept. 30, 2022.
Despite potentially reduced communication bandwidth, the virtual model gives users good data about the mission and the health of the UUV that they otherwise would not have a solid grasp of in the same way data from an unmanned aircraft is relatively seamlessly provided to operators.
“The digital twin on the unmanned underwater vehicle is monitoring sensor data and running models at the edge so that you can provide insights to the operator that aren’t possible to transmit with limited communications bandwidth,” Josh Knight, Integer’s chief operating officer, told
Defense Daily in late August.
Integer said it built the digital twin in part from historical mission data logs, sensor data, and “faster-than-real-time simulations at the edge to inform operational decisions, leading to better mission outcomes.”
The company is planning additional demonstrations this year. Integer is working to “define and demonstrate” the use of digital twins for individual and multi-UUV missions, the company said.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Rite-Solutions, Inc. are subcontracting to Integer on the UUV digital twin effort.
Integer has 30 employees. Knight said the company has funded itself without outside investment. In addition to DARPA, some of the company’s customers include the Office of Naval Research and defense industry prime contractors.
Integer is pursuing additional sponsors for further development and testing of the digital twin technology, which the company calls Romulus, Knight said.