{"id":7571,"date":"2026-08-17T15:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T20:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/okdiario.com\/techy\/en\/?p=7571"},"modified":"2026-08-16T10:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T15:59:10","slug":"a-crewless-boat-launches-a-drone-from-a-sealed-box-and-catches-it-again-on-a-deck-pitching-at-15-knots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/okdiario.com\/techy\/en\/a-crewless-boat-launches-a-drone-from-a-sealed-box-and-catches-it-again-on-a-deck-pitching-at-15-knots\/7571\/","title":{"rendered":"A crewless boat launches a drone from a sealed box and catches it again on a deck pitching at 15 knots"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A weatherproof drone box normally depends on one simple thing. The ground underneath it does not move. German company CiS has now demonstrated an ORKA Dock that opens in under 30 seconds, launches a drone, recovers it on a pitching crewless boat<\/a> traveling at up to 15 knots, and recharges it without a person touching the controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bigger story is not just an impressive landing. It is the creation of a reusable aerial outpost for monitoring ports, offshore energy assets, and undersea cables at a time when NATO and a six-nation European initiative are expanding their efforts to watch over critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deck keeps moving<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Landing on land means aiming for a fixed point. At sea, the target is moving forward while it rises, falls, and rolls, rather like trying to place a coffee cup on a table that will not stay still. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CiS says its Precision Landing System and BEACON deck-recognition technology<\/a> guide the ORKA toward the platform while compensating for the vessel\u2019s motion instead of relying on a fixed GPS coordinate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One small sensor does some of the hardest work. The drone\u2019s LiDAR altimeter has a range of roughly 66 feet and an accuracy of about 0.2 inches, close to the thickness of three stacked pennies. That level of precision matters when the landing surface can drop away during the final seconds of descent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CiS founder Tom Kaufmann said the SeaSEC demonstration achieved autonomous launch and recovery \u201cwithout any operator intervention\u201d and described it as a possible world first. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That claim has not been independently established, so it is best understood narrowly as a complete box-based launch, landing, recovery, and recharge cycle on a moving and pitching crewless vessel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A real cable was in the exercise<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

SeaSEC 2026 took place from April 13 through April 24 in the Mecklenburg Bight and at the Rostock naval base. Working with the German Navy and the Rostock Institute for Ocean Technologies, the program tested industry systems under realistic conditions across cable protection<\/a>, platform protection, and harbor security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cable scenario was more than a clean laboratory test. It used a working high-voltage link between Germany and Denmark, with simulated unexploded ordnance and sabotage attempts that teams had to detect, track, and report to a control center ashore. (seasec.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For two weeks, CiS says the dock operated daily from the rear deck of a FLANQ Q-RECON 24. Missions included offshore energy asset protection and harbor security, giving the system a harder test than a single choreographed landing at a trade show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The boat is the force multiplier<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Q-RECON 24 is a 24-foot crewless surface vessel offered in single-hull and twin-hull versions. FLANQ lists a top speed of about 56 mph, a payload capacity of roughly 4,400 pounds, and a range of up to 3,000 nautical miles, with an open deck designed to launch and recover aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That changes how the drone\u2019s 75-minute endurance should be viewed. A battery lasting a little over an hour is not persistent by itself, but a long-range boat and an automatic charging dock can turn separate flights into a repeating patrol cycle. The vessel becomes a small robotic aircraft carrier<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The ORKA can carry about 11 pounds of cameras or other mission equipment. CiS also offers an optional 394-foot tether that can provide continuous power and a fiber-optic data connection, allowing the aircraft to remain aloft above the vessel without depending on radio links for its video feed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small drone, serious navigation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The ORKA has a maximum takeoff weight of about 26 pounds and a top speed near 62 mph. CiS says it can remain stable in winds approaching 31 mph, carries an IP55 dust and water resistance rating, and is designed to operate from about 5 to 113 degrees Fahrenheit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its navigation package includes dual RTK satellite antennas and an inertial fallback intended to keep the aircraft flying if GPS becomes unreliable. The listed communications options include systems from Silvus, DTC, Doodle Labs, and Herelink, allowing the German-built aircraft to use radios from established suppliers in the United States and Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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