High Sea State Automated Deployment and Retrieval of Towed Bodies from a Small Surface Platform

An innovative system for deploying and retrieving towed bodies from a small surface platform is proposed which builds on previous work in the field. The Deploy and Retrieval System (DRS) employs a semi-active approach to accommodate high sea state conditions. Active sensing of relative motion is coupled with passive, compliant mechanisms to ensure safe operations in the presence of significant wave induced motion of the host vessel. A method to standardize the interface between the tow body and handling system is proposed to minimize the reconfiguration required to adapt the system to different tow bodies. The system can be readily installed on different host vessels, with minimal mechanical and control system integration required.