Integration of a Passive Acoustic Monitoring System in an Amphibious Quadcopter

This paper presents the first payload trials of a new uncrewed systems concept called Seahawk. Like its namesake bird
¹
, this vehicle is capable of crossing between the air and water domains. The Seahawk platform concept is a family of unmanned aerial systems, commonly known as drones, that can both fly and float, or swim, in the ocean. The F4 (“floating quadcopter”) offers a payload capacity of up to 20 lbs (9 kg) and is intended for aquatic data collection. Available sensor integrations include an echosounder for water depth measurements and a multi-parameter water quality sonde for measuring temperature, conductivity, pH, and several others. The vehicle’s modular design allows for reconfiguration to a serve a broad range of applications and the removeable propulsion modules allow for allow for upgrades as well as compact storage and transport. The F4 can simply land on the water’s surface and log data from fixed sensors. But it can also employ a winch mechanism to deploy profiling sensors or compact remotely operated vehicles. This paper reviews the technical details of installing and testing such a winch mechanism for acoustic monitoring.
¹
though Seahawk is a nickname not an actual species, it is commonly used to refer to Ospreys