Drone carrier: An integrated unmanned surface vehicle for autonomous inspection and intervention in GNSS-denied maritime environment

GNSS denial and interference increasingly challenge maritime robotics. While heterogeneous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) teams are promising for inspection and intervention, open-sea non-cooperative docking and reliable deck landing on a moving platform remain difficult. This work addresses that gap with a fully electric, modular USV-based drone carrier that autonomously approaches, docks to, and services target vessels without Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The system integrates on-shore camera handover, onboard gimbaled vision and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), Ultra-Wide Band (UWB)+Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) localization, Quick Response (QR)-based terminal landing, and a thrust-vectoring docking controller within a unified Robot Operating System (ROS) architecture. In sea-state-3 trials, the carrier achieved offshore handover at ≈ 200 m (3 km standoff), onboard vision lock to ≈ 500 m, LiDAR modeling within 200 m, non-cooperative docking with ≤ 1 m error, and QR-assisted deck landings with ≈ 20 cm accuracy. These results demonstrate robust closed-loop operation under GNSS denial and delineate the present envelope (rigid deck edge; sea state ≤ 3), informing deployment for port security and offshore rescue and guiding future extensions to higher sea states and broader target geometries.