Charles River Analytics has received additional funding from the U.S. Navy to further develop a technology platform that could help detect maritime objects and create maps of the ocean surface in real-time.
The company said Tuesday the Real-Time Ortho-Mosaicking for Awareness and Navigation system is a set of software components that applies autonomy and computer vision for real-time ocean mapping and could enable the service branch to improve situational awareness for anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue, counter-surveillance and other maritime operations.
ROMAN forms and continuously update an ortho-mosaic or detailed map of the sea surface by ingesting video from electro-optical and infrared sensors aboard an unmanned aircraft system.
Charles River received more than $1.1 million in funding from the Navy following a proof of concept of its technology.
“Keeping up-to-date maps over the open ocean and for aircraft to navigate without the aid of vulnerable external guidance information like GPS presents unique challenges. This project will help provide up-to-the-minute maps and navigational information in contested environments,” said Todd Jennings, a scientist at Charles River and principal investigator on the ROMAN project.
