A HAMPSHIRE firm will be trialling the world's first drone capable of landing on a moving ship without human input.

Romsey-based Roke Manor Research will be trialling unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at the Royal Navy’s Unmanned Warrior exercise in October.

Roke’s Autoland technology, funded and developed in collaboration with the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), uses specials cameras to enable a UAV to self-land without the need for human assistance or additional technology.

While other UAV landing systems must rely on a signal from a ship’s beacon to identify the landing site or easy-to-jam GPS, Autoland intelligently identifies obstacles on the ship’s superstructure to land safely.

Daily Echo:

A team of three engineers from Roke will be at sea for three weeks during Unmanned Warrior, testing the system in a variety of weather conditions, both day and night.

Rebecca Robinson, an engineer on the project said: “Landing on a moving platform is one of the most hazardous parts of operating UAVs at sea. If it goes wrong, recovery is both complex and costly. It’s also one of the main reasons UAVs have not yet been adopted into naval operations.

“While Autoland is technically advanced, it is also extremely simple to use, allowing UAVs to become a safe and reliable part of search, rescue and reconnaissance operations at sea.”

The technology came out of another Roke project to develop special helmet-mounted cameras to help soliders find their way around the battlefield without the aid of GPS.

The system could alos be fitted to manned aircraft to help with landings in difficult conditions, say Roke, who are currently working on a night vision version of the system.

During the sea trials, the Roke team will be working with Porchester-based ASV, a world leader in unmanned marine systems.

“ASV has worked with Roke on a number of projects involving advanced marine autonomy, including the Autoland system. Unmanned Warrior is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the technologies that are being developed here on the south coast”, Vince Dobbin, Sales and Marketing Director, ASV.

Roke Manor Research is an engineering consultancy owned by the Chemring Group.

Its staff of 360 are currently working on more than 400 innovative engineering projects at any one time.