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Neither fishnor fowl Harry Gosling has developed a robot that can ‘fly and swarm’underwater and perform a myriad of tasks over huge distances.Tony Whitehead reports on his amazing ‘ring wing’.

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It is in this barn-like building at the back of a farmnorth of Bristol that former BAE Systems directorHarry Gosling, 52, occupies a bijou office alongsidebusiness partner Steve Price. The rest of the space is taken up with work benches and scattered abouton these are a few clamps, some laptops and atangle of rather traditional-looking bits of electronicequipment including the needle and gauge variety.There is also a rather odd-looking yellow machine.

This is the laboratory of Harry’s firm, GO Science.Supported by a small but dedicated engineeringteam, Harry has invented a revolutionary underwater‘flying’ robot. Unsurprisingly perhaps, there are onlya very few types of underwater flying robots in theworld but Harry’s design is quite unique and enjoysseveral key advantages over its rivals.

As such it is truly innovative. But why should anyonewant such a thing? Harry (urbane, greying and incomfortable togs, looking every inch the formercompany man turned entrepeneur) is keen to talkof the potential markets for his device, and does so with such energy that the whole point of GOScience and Unit 5 quickly begins to make sense.

“There are a number of markets open to us,” he explains. “Environmental monitoring is animportant one. Climate change research, forexample, requires huge amounts of informationabout ocean temperature and associated processes.”

But why a robot? Is it not easier to dangle athermometer over the side? “Straightforwardenough, yes,” concedes Harry. “But mannedresearch vessels are very expensive to run. Muchcheaper to have robots that can efficiently collectinformation from many depths and locations.”

At this point it is important to understand that GO Science’s robot, RHyVAU as it is known, is notjust a remotely-controlled device, but one which can operate autonomously. Tasked with collectinginformation from a number of points in the ocean

it will take itself off and collect it. RemarkablyRHyVAU can wander the seas for up to 4000kmbefore needing to recharge its batteries.

And RHyVAU (it stands for Ring Hydro VesselAgent Under Liquid) can do more than just collecttemperature data. Says Harry: “Fit it with othersensors and it will also measure salinity, for example,or pollutant levels.”

And fitting RHyVAU with a camera opens up manymore market sectors: “Generating renewable energyfrom wind, wave, tides or marine currents is agrowing market. RHyVAU can be detailed to makeroutine inspections of these underwater assets,doing the job much more cheaply than divers orremotely controlled devices.”

GO Science also has its eye on another burgeoningmarket: defence and homeland security. Says Harry:“RHyVAU can patrol harbours to guard againstterrorist intrusion or inspect ships’ hulls for either explosives or even illegal drugs which areincreasingly being clamped to the underside ofships to avoid detection.”

It is not hard to see why RHyVAU might be one ofthose inventions which happens along at exactly theright time. All the markets Harry mentions are inareas of growing concern and all are expected toincrease significantly over the coming decade.

But how exactly does RHyVAU work and what sets it apart from its rivals? “Its remarkable range is onlypartly dependent on the efficiency of its batteries andthe electric motors that propel it,” explains Harry.“RHyVAU can adjust its buoyancy and this, combinedwith its wing, allows it to glide through the water on a gentle slope up or down, covering large distancesunderwater with very low energy usage.”

There are other underwater gliders – mainly designsfrom the US – but what makes RHyVAU unique isits unusual ‘ring wing’ design. As Harry explains,wings work much the same underwater as they do inthe air, and a ring wing is simply a wing which hasbeen bent, if you like, into a circle. (Imagine takingthe tips of an aircraft wing and bending them so

Opposite: Harry Goslingwith a prototype of his‘ring wing’.Pictures: Martin Chainey.

GO Science hasbeen supported by Business Link

in the West of England.

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Continued on page 8

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that they meet somewhere above the fuselage.)

“Our ring wing shape, using a double chevronsweep, with propulsion units placed within it, isexceptionally efficient and manoeuvrable,” he says.“There is nothing like it anywhere in the world and we believe nothing can match its performance underwater.”

So it is time to inspect the famous RHyVAU which,sitting on one of Unit 5’s workbenches, looksdistinctly unimpressive. About the size of a laundrybasket and looking like the casing from a small jet engine it is at first difficult to believe in therevolutionary nature of its design. But then Harryturns to his laptop and we can see video of RHyVAUin action, swimming with astonishing grace andagility, holding a measured straight line glide oneminute, swooping and turning the next.

It does not move like a machine. It moves like a fish.What the untrained eye cannot see, at least untilRHyVAU moves, is that the ring wing design is theresult of many hours testing first virtual designs and then dozens of small models, until the flowdynamics were just right.

That it moves efficiently is plain to see. The test lakebarely ripples as RHyVAU zooms just an inch or twobelow the surface, and Harry is understandablyproud of his creation. In fact it is no exaggerationto say his eyes shine with boyish enthusiasm as hewatches RHyVAU go through its paces for what mustbe at least the hundredth time.

So how does a former BAE director end up in ashed with this remarkable machine? Like many an entrepreneur before him, it seems a form ofredundancy was the kick-start to a new and riskierlife. “I was with BAE Systems for a long time,” he says. “British Aerospace even sponsored myelectronics degree at Coventry University.”

After graduating he worked first at BAE’s Hatfieldsite, before transferring back to his home city ofBristol and working at Filton. In all he spent 12years involved with missile technology programmesand a further 16 years developing underwatersensor technology. He was director of underwatersystems at Filton when his division was movedelsewhere so, rather than uproot his family, Harrydecided to take redundancy and start GO Science.It was harder than he imagined.

“I thought, ‘Well I already work hard and longhours so that shouldn’t be a problem’. I had no ideathough, how all-consuming and hard getting thisbusiness going would be.”

It is, in fact, a remarkably ambitious project for astart-up business. Designing an autonomous robotwith associated navigational and sensing technologyfrom scratch is usually the undertaking of a well-funded multinational which can call on the collective talents of hundreds of staff.

By contrast GO Science has only an enthusiastic and determined team of graduates including Dave Trotter, Roman Kingsland, Chris Jones andMargaret Wookey. Harry’s business partner, Steve

Price, has also identified further talents to berecruited as the company continues its expansionthroughout this year.

“Happily we have had a lot of support,” says Harry.“Business Link helped us when we applied for R&Dgrant funding and Exeter and LoughboroughUniversities assisted with an industrial case award.Both applications were supported by South WestRDA via a research grant.”

GO Science has also been supported bySETsquared, the enterprise partnership between the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Southampton andSurrey. This meant GO Science could benefit fromlaboratory space within Bristol University and anoffice in the University’s Merchant Venturersbuilding – one of the SETsquared BusinessAcceleration Centres.

Despite the help, Harry has still had to adjust hislifestyle to accommodate his new status as self-employed entrepreneur. “It’s true what everybodysays about starting a business. You have to tightenyour belt, drive a smaller car, work longer hours.”

But in return Harry is seeing his vision slowly turninto reality – and it is a vision that goes far beyondthe underwater acrobatics his gizmo performs in the testing lake. One of RHyVAU’s many startlingfeatures is that it can work as a ‘swarm’, that is inconjunction with many other RHyVAUs.

Harry envisages dozens, perhaps hundreds, of his machines gliding the oceans, autonomouslyand co-operatively gathering information from ahuge range of depths and locations and doing it ingreater detail, and more cheaply than ever before.“We won’t just sell robots,” he says. “We will sell theinformation collecting network, or possibly just thedata itself. Many of our potential customers won’tactually want a RHyVAU; they want the information it can garner.”

And RHyVAU’s sales potential already lookspromising, with the US Navy and many multi-national companies already taking a keen interest.RHyVAU is still under development. There are stillengineering and software issues that have to be finetuned before it is ready for the market. But Harryintends the first production models will be at workbelow the waves by 2010.

And Harry’s vision doesn’t stop there. RHyVAU’sunique wing design apparently means it may proveas astonishingly manoeuvrable in the air as it is in the water. “So far it has only flown in ourcomputers,” says Harry. “But we know that bychanging the material and structural design of thewing it will fly pretty well. In fact our simulationspredict performance levels that exceed the state of the art by some considerable margin.”

A whole new type of flying machine then – anintriguing prospect. But this is innovation, anextraordinary mix of vision, risk and long hoursbeing undertaken in an anonymous business unitsomewhere near you.

t: 0117 9151289 (Bristol office) or 01454 419600 (lab)e: harry.gosling@goscience.co.uk

GO Science hasreceived a DIUS

Grant for Research &Development, whichis administered by

the South West RDA.For more information,

call 0117 933 0280

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From page 6

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Harry Gosling: “Many of our potential customers won’t actuallywant a RHyVAU; they want the information it can garner.”

‘There is nothing likeit in the world and

and we believenothing can match

its performanceunderwater.’