First Underwater Drone Crossing of the English Channel

Earlier this year, the YUCO became the first micro–Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) to successfully cross the English Channel from Folkestone, England, to Wissant, France. 

The crossing, a partnership between RS Aqua and SEABER, took less than 8 hours.The AUV measures just under one meter long and weighs 10 kg, small but mighty enough to battle its way through the highly variable weather conditions and strong currents in the Channel – also considered to be one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.

To maintain accurate navigation and keep the mission on track, the YUCO resurfaced three times during the crossing to re-establish its location using GPS.

“Prior to the introduction of micro-AUVs, collecting scientific data in coastal environments always had challenges - be it spatial coverage, funding, time, weather, or types of data that could be collected” said Nathan Hunt, Ocean Scientist at RS Aqua. “With the introductions of micro-AUV platforms like YUCO, data collection has become vastly more attainable and accessible to a wide range of users, from large energy corporations to smaller research institutes."

The aim of this mission was to demonstrate the reliability and endurance of the YUCO on the 39km underwater route from England to France. The navigation and battery capacity of the YUCO were both put to the test, but it stayed on course and completed its mission with 35% battery power remaining. 

The YUCO micro AUV is manufactured by SEABER and exclusively distributed by RS Aqua UK and Ireland. It is available in four options: YUCO-PAM, YUCO-SCAN, YUCO-PHYSICO, YUCO-CTD.

Image courtesy RS Aqua