Photo By Jhon Parsons | A high-speed maneuverable unmanned surface vessel (left) sails away from the Port of...... read more read more
Subscribe
Eight companies tested unmanned and autonomous systems off the coast of Port Hueneme, California, in early August, offering the Navy a glimpse at new and emerging technologies.
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division (NSWC PHD) hosted the Coastal Trident series of Advanced Naval Technology Exercises (ANTX-CT) INDIA event from Aug. 4 through 8 at the Port of Hueneme and the command’s Fathomwerx Lab.
The series holds over a dozen demonstrations each year between June and September and provides a controlled environment for businesses to conduct field experiments, said Brendan Applegate, NSWC PHD’s principal investigator for the ANTX-CT program.
The recent exhibition — the 12th in a series of 19 events conducted this summer — allowed industry members to operate on their own and collaborate with other teams to complete cooperative port and maritime security missions using artificial intelligence (AI), Applegate said.
“We were largely successful in supporting and achieving the planned objectives,” he added. “While the environment always gets a say and forces you to leave some missions on the table, the learning environment we established gave the Navy an excellent look at important developing capabilities.”
Interconnective software
NODA AI Inc. and its autonomy software, known as URZA, were at the center of most of the demonstrations.
Based out of Austin, Texas, the software development company put its program through a contested logistics resupply scenario that incorporated eight systems across five other vendors. URZA served as a connective tissue between a variety of drones that allowed them to communicate with each other, NODA AI Chief of Staff Taylor Dillenberger said on Aug. 6.
“We take mixed teams of robots, and our central AI reasoning engine dynamically creates robotic code that task allocates and synchronizes assists to create complex effects,” he said.
3D printed UAV
For its part, Titan Dynamics Inc. — an aerospace company based out of Torrance, California — gathered information on the operational environment on the first day of the event. Then the Titan Dynamics team used that data to 3D print a fixed-wing drone overnight using its mobile printing factory called Vulcan.
The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which resembled an airplane, provided overwatch and target detection during the INDIA event, Titan Dynamics Co-Founder Noah Benton said on Aug. 6. It then fed that information back to NODA AI.
Benton said his company’s type of drones are typically manufactured throughout the world on Air Force and Army bases using existing capabilities.
However, the company’s Prometheus software can autogenerate the drone’s design using data from the mission, while its Vulcan factory can print drones anywhere. The fleet of UAVs can stay airborne anywhere from four to 10 hours, Benton said.
The mobile factory fits inside a large storage container.
“Inside the Vulcan, we have a number of printers and all the parts to build the aircraft and the tools to do it,” he said.
Autonomous drone
Also flying overhead was Darkhive’s autonomous drone, Obelisk.
The UAV is equipped with recognition software that can identify and classify vessels on the water’s surface, said Michal Fiuk, Darkhive’s vice president of defense strategy. The data it collected was also relayed to NODA AI.
The company — which is based out of San Antonio, Texas — is developing a range of software and hardware products that have autonomous teaming capabilities, Fiuk said.
Data collection
Working independently of NODA AI, Titan Dynamics and Darkhive, Andrenam distributed its AI-powered maritime sensing system near the Port of Hueneme. The technology was attached to four buoys and detected and tracked surface and underwater threats.
Although the buoys don’t communicate directly with each other, they do transmit data to and from cloud software, known as cloud computing, Andrenam CEO Mat Cernosek said on Aug. 6.
The sensing system can detect quiet unmanned underwater vessels (UUVs) from 200 to 300 yards away, and larger surface vessels over 3 kilometers (about 2 miles) away.
The team set up the buoys around the entrance to the port and farther out into the ocean to monitor activity in the area and detect vehicle traffic entering and exiting the port.
Cernosek said port officials can use the system to detect potential incursions and UUVs, and the Coast Guard can use it to intercept drug trafficking.
“There’s a lot of various uses for the broader security ecosystem in general,” Cernosek said.
| Date Taken: | 09.17.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 09.17.2025 15:05 |
| Story ID: | 548441 |
| Location: | PORT HUENEME, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 32 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Artificial Intelligence, Unmanned Vehicles Work in Sync During Naval Technology Exercise, by Brian Varela, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
