USVs
An unmanned surface vessel — a boat with no crew that drives itself to survey, monitor or carry things across the surface of the water.
- unmanned surface vehicle
- autonomous boat
- robot boat
No products in this category yet.
What it is
A USV is a robot boat. Staying on the surface gives it what submersibles lack: GPS, radio and mobile data all work, so it navigates precisely and streams data live, and it can run on solar or wind for weeks. What it gives up is the ability to go under. It looks down with echo sounders and sonar or samples the water it floats on, and it is exposed to waves, wind and other traffic, which is where most of the engineering effort goes.
Also called an unmanned surface vehicle, autonomous boat or robot boat. In this taxonomy it is the third child of Aquatic robot and the one rule is that it operates on the water surface.
What they are used for
- Hydrographic survey — mapping the bottom of lakes, harbours and reservoirs with a small echo-sounder boat launched from the bank.
- Environmental monitoring — water-quality sampling, algae tracking and long solar-powered ocean transects.
- Aquaculture and ports — feeding and net inspection on fish farms, security patrols around harbours.
- Education and research — model-boat-sized hulls on open autopilots for autonomy and sensing projects.
What to compare
| Attribute | Why it matters | In this catalogue |
|---|---|---|
battery_runtime |
Hours on a battery, or indefinite with solar on the larger hulls | not yet in the catalogue |
payload |
An echo sounder is light; multibeam sonar and sampling pumps are not | not yet in the catalogue |
mass |
Whether it goes on a roof rack or needs a trailer and a slipway | not yet in the catalogue |
autonomy |
Waypoint following is standard; avoiding other boats is the hard part | not yet in the catalogue |
ip_rating |
Spray and the occasional wave over the deck | not yet in the catalogue |
sdk |
Open autopilots expose everything; survey products expose a mission planner | not yet in the catalogue |
In the catalogue
No products yet — this is where survey boats, solar ocean drones and floating pool skimmers would go.
Edge cases
- Surface-only pool skimmers that float and collect leaves: USVs, with
application: pool. - Pool cleaner that skims and dives (Beatbot AquaSense 2 Pro): an AUV, because it submerges.
- A USV that launches and tethers an ROV: two entries linked by
compatible_with. - Amphibious vehicles: classified by the medium they are marketed for.
Related
Aquatic robot · ROV · AUV
Rule of membership
Operates on the water surface.
Category rb-7-3 in the whatrobot taxonomy.