Exail, RTsys and ABYSSA have announced their strategic collaboration on the CARMA project, aimed at advancing the mapping of the ocean floor using AUVs, which are also known as swarms of autonomous underwater vehicles ( AUVs). autonomous underwater vehicles . This ambitious project, co-financed by Bpifrance under the #France2030 initiative, seeks to develop deepwater exploration technologies.
Role of companies for underwater exploration with AUVs
The CARMA project focuses on the creation of an innovative solution for the accurate survey of the seabed. Using an underwater underwater drone capable of submerging to 3,000 meters, a swarm of AUVs will be coordinated to increase the efficiency and coverage of the exploration area. Technologies developed include advanced collaborative navigation, acoustic communications and state-of-the-art mapping capabilities.
As part of France’s strategy to expand its deepwater exploration capabilities, Exail will upgrade its A18-D deepwater AUV. These upgrades will enable precise navigation at altitudes close to the seabed and accurate geolocation of acquired data. RTsys, for its part, will increase the capabilities of its COMET-3000 AUV, enabling diving to 3,000 meters and developing an innovative launch and recovery system for the AUV swarm.
The A18-D performs missions down to 3,000 m depth with an autonomy of 21 hours. Source: Exail
ABYSSA will focus on developing exploration strategies and processing magnetic data collected to map seafloor anomalies. This project, which will deploy an operational demonstrator in 2026, will also conduct preliminary studies to extend exploration capability to 6,000 meters depth.
Statements by project leaders
Catherine Pikovsky, Exail’s project manager, expressed her satisfaction with the collaboration, “We are pleased to announce our collaboration with ABYSSA and RTsys on the groundbreaking CARMA project. As we push the boundaries of autonomous underwater exploration, we enhance the capabilities of our A18-D deepwater AUV to navigate close to the seabed.”
For her part, Marine Postec, RTsys project manager, highlighted the opportunity to enrich the deep-sea experience: “Thanks to this project, we have the opportunity to work on the development of an AUV swarm operating at 3,000 meters depth, which will allow us to innovate and demonstrate our swarming capabilities.
Similarly, Michel Colinet, Deputy Director General of ABYSSA, emphasized the importance of AUV swarming for oceanography: “We advocate the principle of AUV swarming because it allows oceanographers to carry out extensive and accurate mapping in deep and poorly known areas”.
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Source and photo: exail
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