INM’s Autonomous Surface Vehicle, with its azimuth thrusters and maneuvering dexterity is the ideal candidate to navigate confined and shallow waters, and to cruise fragile ecosystems as typically MPAs (Marine Protected Areas) and transition waters. SWAMP (Shallow Water Autonomous Multipurpose Platform) is a lightweight catamaran, completely electric, soft-foam – hence unsinkable -, modular, and highly controllable thanks to its flexible software architecture. SWAMP’s four azimuth Pump-Jet thrusters are flush with the hull and specifically designed for this vehicle with a magnetic coupling.
Its navigation and control package as well as its communication and propulsion systems allow SWAMP to navigate also as a mono-hull. SWAMP successfully completed near glacier sampling missions in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, as well as sampling campaigns in the Venice Lagoon and in the Gulf of Naples.
SWAMP, integrated with guard1 -underwater cameras- can monitor and interact with the marine environment. Moreover, such integration can provide feedback to the robotic manipulators that will be mounted on board for in-water operations, including transitional areas, for instance beaches and, more generally, coastlines. Such a platform will constitute the first hybrid (hard+soft) bespoken robotic application for delicate navigation and sampling in confined waters.