Design and Exploitation of an Autonomous Surface

The design, development, sea trials and exploita-
tion of the SESAMO (SEa Surface Autonomous MOdular
unit) platform, an autonomous surface vessel for the study
and characterization of the air-sea interface, are presented.
The SESAMO prototype robot, developed by the robotics
group of CNR-ISSIA, Genova branch, in strict cooperation
with the scientific end-users in the framework of a project
of the Italian National Program of Research in Antarctica
(PNRA), was able to sample the sea surface microlayer
and immediate sub-surface. After satisfactory basic at field
trials of the navigation, guidance and control (NGC) and
sampling systems, the robotised catamaran was exploited by
the scientific end-users for water sample collection in the area
of Terra Nova Bay, Ross Sea, Antarctica, in the framework
of the PNRA project Chemical contamination.