Lighthouse Control
Each user creates a custom profile, allowing your organization to keep track of who is monitoring the vessels, along with a master control to set permissions for each user. A chat feature allows the team to stay connected during the mission, and to collectively solve problems. In this age of online collaboration and remote working, Lighthouse is the pinnacle USV control solution. The four components of Lighthouse are:
Lighthouse Control
Lighthouse Control is a user-friendly means of controlling and monitoring one or multiple USVs. Routes are created in the mission planner by dragging and dropping pins and grid tools allow for quick and easy grid survey routes to be created. Different actions can be initiated at waypoints such as loitering or activating switches and sensors. There are several loiter options and all loiter parameters are adjustable. Different maps and overlays include bathymetric, satellite, AIS, radar wind modelling, and plain. Multiple overlays can be used simultaneously for maximum situational awareness.
There are numerous safety features such as alerting the operator if they accidentally create the route over land or shallow water. Additionally, an alarm alerts the operator if the vessel strays from its programmed route or drifts from a loiter point. System health sensors are monitored, along with alarms/notifications to alert the operator when values exceed safe limits. Camera control and viewing is also implemented here.
You can import a vector image into the mission planner, and have it automatically converted into a route, scaled to any size. The image below is our company logo, imported as an SVG file and turned into a series of waypoints for the USV to follow. A camera on shore at night captured the precision of this maneuver.
The USV will automatically switch between different modes of communications (cell, radio, satellite) depending on availability, and this can also be manually controlled by the operator through Lighthouse Control. Additionally, joystick and RC control are managed through this system. Logs of mission telemetry are recorded from each mission, and can be replayed in the software for analysis.
Lighthouse Control also logs all system health data such as cumulative time on water (regardless of whether thruster is operating), thruster data (total running time, speeds, etc), rudder data, battery cycle data and much more. The system will notify the operator when maintenance is required and when hardware is near end of life.
Lighthouse Collision Avoidance:
Our onboard collision avoidance system is an advanced system that uses multiple sensors including AIS, computer vision, radar, lidar, and depth sounder. Actions taken by the vessel are configurable. As with all other existing collision avoidance systems, this system requires oversight from a remote operator. When avoidance maneuvers are required, the USV can automatically take action with an alert sent to the remote operator, or it can request the change and await permission.
There are many useful tools including a time slider, which allows the operator to move all vessel icons through time on their predicted trajectories to easily visualize the likelihood of collision. This time slider can also play out potential autonomous evasive maneuvers, providing clarity for remote decision making.
Lighthouse Power Manager:
Power Manager automatically controls and manages power usage for long missions. Priorities can be set, and the operator can manually intervene or change settings at any time. Power Manager monitors solar input, battery levels, remaining time in mission and other factors to most effectively operate the USV and instrumentation.
Licensing: Lighthouse is available as a subscription, which allows users to get full benefit of continued improvements and developments. Please contact us for details.