Insider Brief
- Impossible Metals said its Eureka II subsea vehicle completed an autonomous offshore recovery demonstration, locating, aligning with and reconnecting to its surface vessel without human control.
- During the open-water test, Eureka II used acoustic positioning, visual guidance and an integrated SmartHook to secure itself for retrieval and return to the deck.
- Impossible Metals is developing Eureka II for repeated deployments involving ocean resources, subsea infrastructure and marine data collection, with autonomous recovery intended to reduce crew involvement and support more frequent operations.
Impossible Metals has reported its Eureka II subsea vehicle completed an autonomous offshore recovery demonstration, locating and reconnecting with its surface vessel without human control.
During the open-water test, Eureka II used acoustic positioning to locate the vessel and visual guidance to align with it before attaching through an integrated mechanical SmartHook, according to Impossible Metals. The vehicle then returned to the deck without an operator controlling the recovery sequence.
The Pittsburgh-based company said the demonstration addressed a key operational challenge for autonomous subsea systems: reliably returning a vehicle to its support vessel after a mission. The company released a video of the demostration that can be found here.
The recovery process combines several systems. Acoustic positioning helps Eureka II determine the location of the surface vessel, while onboard visual guidance is used during the final approach. The SmartHook then provides the physical connection needed to secure the vehicle for retrieval.
“Autonomous recovery is a gating function,” CTO Jason Gilham noted in the announcement. “If a subsea platform cannot reliably retrieve itself in real ocean conditions, outside a lab, it cannot scale. Halifax shows it working in open water, and it shows it working the way it will have to work every day in the field.”
Impossible Metals is developing Eureka II for repeated ocean deployments involving ocean resources, subsea infrastructure and marine data collection where reducing the need for manual recovery could limit the amount of time vessels and crews spend retrieving equipment. The company said autonomous recovery is intended to support more frequent deployments while reducing crew involvement during retrieval.
“The next generation of ocean capability will be defined by autonomy and precision, doing more with a lighter touch and proving it at every step,” executive chairman Steve Curnutte added. “That is the standard we are building to, and it is how responsible access to the ocean should be earned.”
