Facts

• Company: Liquid Robotics
• Product type: Autonomous Surface Vessel
• Status: commercial
• Capability focus: Locomotion
• Website: https://www.liquid-robotics.com/wave-glider/how-it-works/

Profile sections

• Summary
• Overview
• Market context
• Audience
• Workflow
• Capability
• Deployment environment
• Positioning tags
• Specifications
• Tags
• Timeline / Research
• Sources

Summary

Wave Glider SV3 is Liquid Robotics autonomous surface vehicle powered by wave and solar energy. It carries sensors for persistent ocean monitoring, surveillance and scientific missions, staying at sea for long-duration data collection without fuel.

Overview

Wave Glider SV3 is Liquid Robotics autonomous surface vehicle powered by wave and solar energy. It carries sensors for persistent ocean monitoring, surveillance and scientific missions, staying at sea for long-duration data collection without fuel.

Market context

Wave Glider SV3 is Liquid Robotics autonomous uncrewed surface vessel using wave and solar energy for persistent ocean monitoring and marine data collection.

• Target environment: Open ocean, coastal waters and marine environments.
• Workflow context: Persistent marine data collection, ocean monitoring, environmental sensing and maritime surveillance using wave-powered autonomous surface vessels.
• Customer context: Oceanographic researchers, maritime operators, defence customers and environmental monitoring agencies.
• Deployment model: Commercial autonomous surface vehicle with global ocean deployment.
• Commercial maturity: Mature autonomous marine platform with extensive operational history across global oceans.
• Adoption constraints: Limited to surface operation. Speed and maneuverability depend on wave conditions.
• Market position: An autonomous ocean monitoring platform enabling persistent data collection where manned operations are costly and limited.
• Adjacent products: Autonomous underwater vehicles, ocean monitoring platforms

Audience

Marine operators

Workflow

Persistent marine data collection, ocean monitoring, environmental sensing and maritime surveillance using wave-powered autonomous surface vessels.

Capability

locomotion

Deployment environment

Open ocean, coastal waters and marine environments.

Positioning tags

• Audience: Marine operators
• Workflow: Persistent marine data collection, ocean monitoring, environmental sensing and maritime surveillance using wave-powered autonomous surface vessels.
• Capability: locomotion
• Deployment environment: Open ocean, coastal waters and marine environments.

Specifications

• Form Type: Uncrewed surface vehicle (USV)
• Configuration: Two-body (float + sub tethered)
• Propulsion: Wave-powered
• Endurance: Up to 1 year
• Solar Power: 225 W nominal
• Communications: Satellite, cellular, Wi-Fi, line-of-sight radio

Tags

• Peer Group: Autonomous surface vehicle
• Workflow: Marine data collection
• Capability: Autonomous navigation
• Deployment Environment: Outdoor field environment
• Stack Layer: Finished robot platform
• Commercial Stage: Commercial product

Timeline / Research

• 2026-02-17 - Contract Award - Liquid Robotics Secures $25M DoD Contract for 20 USVs - On February 17, 2026, the U.S. Department of Defense awarded Liquid Robotics Inc. a $25 million contract to supply 20 commercial unma…
• 2024-06-25 - Research Publication - ECC paper models sea-state interaction for the Liquid Robotics Wave Glider platform - The 2024 European Control Conference paper develops a sea-state-interaction Lagrangian dynamic mo…
• 2021-09-20 - Research Publication - DANS20 field trial paper evaluates full autonomy for the Liquid Robotics Wave Glider - The OCEANS 2021 paper reports field results from the DANS20 trial using a Liquid Robotics Wave G…
• 2014-09-01 - Research Publication - IROS paper predicts Wave Glider speed from wave-model data - The IROS 2014 paper models Wave Glider speed prediction from wave-model data.
• 2012-01-01 - Research Publication - IFAC paper details communications architecture for the Liquid Robotics Wave Glider - The IFAC Proceedings paper focuses on the communications architecture of the Liquid Robotics Wave…
• 2011-10-01 - Research Publication - Ocean Dynamics paper frames Wave Glider for persistent ocean observation - The Ocean Dynamics paper describes the Wave Glider as a platform for persistent ocean observation and resear…
• 2009-10-01 - Research Publication - Wave Glider paper introduces a wave-powered autonomous marine vehicle - The OCEANS 2009 paper presents the Wave Glider as a wave-powered autonomous marine vehicle.