In recent years, blown-up gas pipelines and severed data cables have made it evident that conflicts no longer only take place on the traditional battlefield, but also on the seabed. If Denmark is to be better able to keep a watchful eye on what is happening in the 100,000 km2 of sea that make up Danish territorial waters, we need more advanced surveillance methods based on robot technology and artificial intelligence.
That is why researchers at DTU are working hard to develop surveillance systems for existing unmanned vessels so that they can detect when something is not as it should be. The vessels—which are similar to conventional boats, but only two metres long—must be able to collect data that can be used to create a series of maps of the sea from the seabed to just above the horizon, that show what it "normally" looks like below the surface of the water.
"Once the maps have been created and the vessels are conducting patrol operations and collecting data along the way about what they see, they will be able to compare this new real-time data with the historical maps and look for differences," DTU Associate Professor and head of the project Roberto Galeazzi explains.
"If something looks suspicious, the vessel can send an associated unmanned submarine to conduct further investigations to help assess whether it is "just" perhaps rubbish or whether it is actually something that could pose a threat to our security."
