Technology is enabling a deeper dive into our oceans. Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) technology continues to evolve, and opportunities are expanding. It is projected that the global market for UUVs will be $5.2 billion by 2022. UUVs are used for research, military operations, and commercial applications for underwater infrastructure.

As the world leader in rugged servo drives, ESI Motion’s products are a real engineering achievement. Widely used in military, robotics, automotive, aviation, energy, farming, and aerospace applications, our servo drives have unmatched power to perform for prolonged periods and in extreme conditions, from high pressures to extreme weather. Our state-of-the-art servo drives are leading the way under the sea.

How Underwater Unmanned Vehicles are Used

An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is an underwater robot that travels underwater without input from an operator. A remote operated vehicle (ROV) is a class of underwater vehicles controlled from the surface by an operator using a cable or remote control. The technology that operates these vehicles has to have powerful propulsion, precise navigation, and critical communication systems. Many different industries use these vehicles:

Oil and Gas Industry: AUVs are used to map the seafloor before building infrastructure, such as building a pipeline, so that it will have minimal impact on the environment.

Research: Various organizations use AUVs and ROVs to study the ocean, the ocean floor, and marine life. They have to be configured so that they can also serve as tow-vehicles for samples taken from the ocean for further scientist study.

Air Crash Investigations: AUVs and ROVs are used to find the wreckage of aircraft that has crashed or is missing.

Military Applications: the military uses UUVs for many different purposes, including intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; submarine warfare; inspection and identification; communication and navigation; payload deliveries; and time-critical strikes.

How ESI Motion’s Servo Drives Can Help You Advance Your Underwater Applications

Our team is uniquely qualified to support the most advanced technical applications in development today. All of our servo drives are durable, powerful, reliable, and will perform in any operating environment. ESI servo drives and control systems are engineered for a wide range of unmanned system specifications. Our servo drives offer several advantages:

• Compact size – Space on unmanned vehicles is limited, and our small servo drives deliver unparalleled power and performance.
• Lightweight design – UUV requires onboard systems that are as light as possible. We have a wide range of incredibly lightweight drives with easy mobility.
• High accuracy resolver feedback – Component accuracy ensures reliable performance in the most demanding environments, from extreme temperatures to high vibrations.
• Wide operating temperature range – The sea can have extreme temperature ranges, and the operating temperatures of our system extend the operational temperature from -55ºC to 121ºC.
• Supports system-critical functions – Failure in any UUV can be catastrophic. Our technicians and engineers are experts in the demanding nature of these types of applications and build superior solutions suitable for these critical uses.

To deliver the advantages that our servo drives offer, ESI Motion designs and manufactures high-performance, versatile servo drives and modules to excel in various specialized industrial applications and extreme environments. For example, our Dual Axis Mite servo module packs unparalleled power that takes up less space than a deck of cards, while our ultra-compact Single Axis Mite is smaller than a matchbox and offers unprecedented power density. For more robust applications, our Scorpionmodule offers even more power in compact and durable packaging.

Let Your ESI Motion Servo Drive Experts Propel Your UUVs!

All of our servo drives are durable, powerful, reliable, and will perform in any operating environment. And, if you need a customized solution, our engineering team stands ready to meet your project’s specific needs and requirements. If you are ready to take your motor control system into the depths of the sea, please call us today at +1.800.823.3235 or email sales@esimotion.com. You can also reach out to us on our contact page.