Oceanova Tāwhiri autonomous surface vessel at sea
OCEANOVA / AUTONOMOUS SURFACE SYSTEMS

TĀWHIRI

Persistent
ocean autonomy.

A hybrid sail-electric autonomous surface vessel being developed for long-endurance ocean observation, environmental monitoring and remote maritime operations.

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DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM NEW ZEALAND
BUILT FOR PERSISTENCE

Stay at sea
longer.

Tāwhiri combines wind, solar energy and electric propulsion with autonomous navigation to explore a different approach to persistent ocean operations.

The platform is being designed around missions where endurance, remote operation and repeatable data collection matter more than outright speed.

TĀWHIRI / DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM

Built for the
open ocean.

Tāwhiri uses an aluminium monohull, rigid sail and modular onboard systems architecture designed around long-duration autonomous operation.

01 Aluminium monohull
02 Rigid autonomous sail
03 Solar-assisted electrical system
04 Electric auxiliary propulsion
05 Modular sensor payloads
06 Remote autonomous operation
Oceanova Tāwhiri autonomous vessel under development
PHYSICAL PLATFORM TĀWHIRI
PLATFORM ARCHITECTURE

Energy.
Autonomy.
Persistence.

Tāwhiri autonomous vessel platform architecture
01 / WIND

Rigid Sail

Actuated sail control provides a low-energy propulsion source for persistent autonomous transit.

02 / SOLAR

Energy Harvesting

Integrated solar generation supports onboard compute, communications, sensors and electrical systems.

03 / ELECTRIC

Auxiliary Propulsion

Electric propulsion provides additional manoeuvring authority and mission flexibility when required.

04 / STORAGE

LiFePO₄ Power

Rechargeable onboard energy storage supports autonomous electronics and mission payloads.

LONG-ENDURANCE OPERATIONS

Designed to
keep going.

Tāwhiri is being developed around persistent missions where energy efficiency, remote supervision and autonomous behaviour enable operations beyond conventional short-duration deployments.

AUTONOMOUS NAVIGATION

Intelligence
onboard.

01

Navigation

GNSS, inertial sensing and autonomous mission control provide the core navigation stack.

02

ArduPilot

Open autopilot architecture provides vehicle control, mission planning and configurable failsafe behaviour.

03

Edge Compute

NVIDIA Jetson companion computing provides a platform for perception, sensor processing and mission software.

04

Perception

Radar, camera and AIS integration are being developed to improve situational awareness around the vessel.

Global remote ocean operations
REMOTE OPERATIONS

Beyond the
horizon.

Long-duration autonomy only matters if operators can still understand what the vehicle is doing.

Tāwhiri is being developed around remote telemetry, mission supervision and communications that allow the platform to operate away from local radio infrastructure.

PRIMARY IP DATA LINK
OPTIONAL SATELLITE CONNECTIVITY
CONTROL REMOTE MISSION OPS
ONBOARD EDGE COMPUTE
MISSION SYSTEM

One platform.
Different oceans.

01

Oceanographic
Observation

Carry environmental and oceanographic sensors through long-duration remote missions.

02

Environmental
Monitoring

Repeat observation of offshore and coastal environments using configurable payloads.

03

Maritime
Awareness

Persistent sensing using radar, cameras, navigation and communications systems.

04

Remote
Research

Support scientific programmes in environments where conventional vessel time is expensive or limited.

SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE

Vehicle to
shore.

01

Sense

GNSS, IMU, radar, cameras, AIS and mission sensors.

02

Decide

Autopilot and companion compute process mission state and vehicle behaviour.

03

Act

Sail, rudder and electric propulsion provide vehicle control.

04

Connect

Communications provide remote telemetry, supervision and mission data.

DEVELOPMENT CONFIGURATION

TĀWHIRI

Platform Autonomous Sailing Surface Vessel
Hull Aluminium Monohull
Length 3.6 m Class
Primary Propulsion Actuated Rigid Sail
Auxiliary Propulsion Electric
Energy Solar + LiFePO₄ Storage
Autopilot ArduPilot
Companion Compute NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano
Navigation GNSS / RTK / IMU
Perception Radar / Camera / AIS Integration
Communications Modular IP / Satellite Connectivity
Endurance Mission & Configuration Dependent

Tāwhiri remains a development platform. Final performance specifications will be published following sea trials and configuration validation.

BUILT IN NEW ZEALAND

Hardware first.

Tāwhiri is being developed as a physical autonomous platform, with propulsion, energy, navigation, communications and payload systems integrated and tested together.

The next phase is focused on increasingly demanding sea trials and longer autonomous deployments.

Tāwhiri autonomous surface vessel development
PLATFORM + PAYLOAD

The vehicle is only
half the mission.

Tāwhiri is designed to carry mission-specific sensing systems for oceanographic and environmental data collection.

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OCEANOVA / TĀWHIRI

Persistence changes
what is possible
at sea.

Talk to Oceanova about Tāwhiri, persistent autonomous sensing or long-duration ocean operations.

DISCUSS TĀWHIRI →