Tiburon Subsea Inc Granted Patent for AUV Propulsion System

Tiburon Subsea Inc. has been granted a Patent for their JETTE propulsion system for autonomous underwater vehicles.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has allowed the company’s application, U.S. Patent No. 12,365,432, foreign patents pending, for the JETTE “Vector Control Assemblies for Underwater Vehicles, clearing the way for advanced retrofit kits that make existing autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) and similar subsea drones far nimbler and more reliable.

Using only two custom thrusters, this groundbreaking control technology enables underwater drones to: stop and hover, vertically ascend and descend, move sideways, back up, or hold position in a fast-moving current. The new thruster design allows for increased maneuverability transforming torpedo-shaped AUVs into agile, five-direction craft for defense and commercial use.

Tiburon Subsea's patented design can replace or be retrofitted to a vehicle’s external control hardware with two shrouded pods—one forward, one aft—whose internal vectored jets redirect water flow instantaneously. Working in unison, the pods deliver full five-degree-of-freedom control while preserving the vehicle’s hydrodynamic form.

Incorporating this new thruster assembly, an AUV can hover inches above the seabed while inspecting a pipeline, rock sideways along a harbor wall, or reverse into a submarine’s torpedo tube for recovery, all without the delicate external control planes and exposed propellers that break or foul among debris and infrastructure. Tiburon Subsea’s JETTE system opens doors to faster mine counter-measure missions, safer port surveillance, and more precise offshore-wind surveys.

The company is currently in talks with the US Navy, prime defense contractors, and investors who see the potential surge of capabilities this new technology can deliver.