Yamaha reveals unmanned Breeze10 production boat

Yamaha Motor Company has just revealed an autonomous unmanned compact electric craft. While its intended role is said to be "dam lake-bed sediment surveying," defence applications are mention in the dispatch and, well, the mind doth boggle with all the possibilities.

"Take me to Spot X," and the unmanned boat might drive you to your fishing hot spot handsfree, whereupon you set the lures and troll from a comfortable seat without a worry. Just saying...

But at this point in time, Yamaha Motor says it has designed this new product to support sounding work such as measuring the sediment levels of dams. Yamaha says it will commence business rentals principally aimed at commercial surveyors as soon as August 2016. Rental of unmanned vessels is an interesting prospect.

BREEZE10 MISSION
The Breeze10 is described as an electric FRP craft approximately three metres in length, powered by a 0.5 kW motor, with a top speed of 4 knots.

The boat has been developed to enable easy mounting of measurement equipment such as narrow multibeam sonar, which is increasingly popular in surveying (and fishing we will add).

The Breeze10 uses GNSS (a satellite positioning system) positioning data and azimuth angle data, which allows unmanned autonomous navigation and supports improvements in efficiency and labour-saving efforts for surveying the beds of bodies of water using sonar, explains Yamaha.

Yamaha adds that "usage of the craft is expected to expand from the surveying field into surveillance and defence support in the future."

KEY FEATURES OF THE UNNAMED BOAT
Meantime, the main features of Breeze10 are said to be:
>> A dedicated mount allows sonars to be quickly fitted to the installation space in the centre of the craft.
>> Operation in shallow locations is also possible due to the special-purpose hull fitted with a Yamaha Motor marine electric motor.
>> Three operating modes which can be selected to suit the environment of the survey location: programmed auto-navigation mode, remote-controlled operation mode, and on-board joystick operation mode.
>> A long operating time thanks to a lithium-ion battery and an on-board compact generator (six hours continuous).
>> Navigational routes can be saved which allows the exact same route to be used when resurveying.
>> An overall length of 3.2 metres and a beam of 1.2 metres allows transportation in a suitably sized mini-van

Specifications: Breeze10
Length x Width x Height: 3.21m × 1.17 m × 0.89 m (excluding antenna and trailer)
Cargo Weight/max. Occupants: 166.5 kg/1 person
Maximum Output: 500W (Yamaha Marine Motor M25)
Speed: Max. 4 knots (7.2 km/h)
Continuous Operating Time: Approx. 6 hours max.
Traversal Line Navigating Accuracy: ± 1.5 m (using DGNSS)
Battery Li-ion: 20AH 24V
Generator Output Max.: 1.6 kW (Yamaha inverter generator EF1600iS)
Supported Sonar: SONIC2024, SONIC2022 (R2Sonic)
Further details via www.yamaha-motor.com.au.