A nautical drone company with a workshop in Ballard is making waves in the drone industry, and their sailing drone could help lead to breakthroughs in marine research.

Navocean has developed two self-navigating drone sailboats, the Nav2 and Nav3, also known as Autonomous Surface Vehicles (ASVs) with the ability to stay out on the water longer and to relay more types of information. The crux of its feasibility results from the use of solar panels and the fact that it’s a sailboat, requiring very little energy to navigate. The advancement opens the door to staying out on the water longer by using sunrays to power computers to capture and relay data.

“We (Navocean Team) thought to automate something and make it work on the ocean for long periods of time would be extremely valuable to marine research,” said Scott Duncan, Co-founder and Chief Designer of Navocean.

Duncan took time to talk with the Ballard New-Tribune while in Sarasota, Florida, where his team was demonstrating one of their model’s ability to collect data from red tide algae blooms.

“Researchers survey for red tide out in the Gulf and our drone sailboat can be used to cover the surface routinely, and we are demonstrating how that can aid them.”

Navocean is headquartered in West Seattle and has a works space in Ballard. The Navocean Team is made up of Duncan, Ethan Arutunian, Co-founder and Chief Technical Officer, Stuart Lochner, Sales and Mission Support, Dan Wood, Software and Technical Support, John Duncan, Financial Advisor, and John H. Cragin II, Coast Guard and Contracting Advisor.

Navoceans’ sailing drone concept has been almost two decades in the making. Back in 2000, Scott Duncan came up with the first sail-powered prototype for Navocean called the “mini-Nav I.” Duncan designed and built it as a proof-of-concept for the University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory. The concept was a success and led to the design of two others, which were funded by marine mammal research grants from University of British Columbia and the University of Washington.

“The concept is to build a automated surface vehicle that is small enough to not be hazardous for navigation, and we need it to go for long durations — up to six months and we need to build it with many platforms for lots of different kinds of research applications and sensors.”

Later on in 2005 the Nav2 was developed after Duncan received a grant from Maine Technology Institute to develop an autonomous sailboat. The development of the Nav2 was a birthing moment for the company after that model proved the achievability of sail and solar drones.

Last year Navocean developed the Nav3, it’s first production-ready prototype. Maine Physical Oceanography Group received the drone for use in the Gulf of Maine.

The Nav3 weighs in at 400 pounds and is three meters long, which according to Navocean makes it the most compact of its type with the capability of supporting more research hardware. It has a foam core and is built with a low-density epoxy, fiberglass and carbon fibers. The topside of the Nav3 is outfitted with solar panels and it only needs around one hour a day of sunlight to sustain its energy supply while operating under sail. If there is no sun the Nav3’s standard battery configuration can power the watercraft under sail for 40 consecutive days. There is also an electric propeller that can provide an additional two knots of speed when needed.

Now Duncan and Navocean are looking at research prospects in the Pacific Northwest by using their nautical drone for marine mammal research. Their models have the ability to house over 150 types of sensors. A primary one used in marine mammal research is a hydrophone, an underwater microphone.

“The hydrophone is a big thing in marine mammal research. In Pacific Northwest there is evidence that marine mammals are being harmed by military and commercial activity. … We are really excited about the hydrophone and really looking forward for its deployment.”

Other sensor capabilities include measuring conductivity, temperature, depth, chemical and biological readings.

Another application the drone could be used for is homeland security by monitoring vessel traffic and acoustic readings.

“We’re thinking that the future in our niche will open up more opportunity in oceanography. There is no other vehicle out there that has this capability.”