Design and Energy Management of an Electric Marine Eco Unmanned Surface Vehicle

This paper provides a case study on designing an autonomous propulsion system for an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV), intended for environmental monitoring of waters. The project is developed within the "CN-MOST – Spoke 3 (Waterways)" research activity, funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) of Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR). The purpose of this project is to design and define the energy management strategy of the electric propulsion system powered by a battery pack and methanol fuel cell to increase the USV range while ensuring a low environmental impact in terms of pollutant emissions into the air. The paper shows that through the Equivalent Consumption Minimization Strategy (ECMS) as energy management strategy, a reduction in fuel consumption can be achieved compared to a simple rule-based strategy.