The unmanned sail drones that patrolled the Great Lakes between April and November will return in 2027, the U.S. Coast Guard announced Monday.
The six Saildrone Voyager Unmanned Surface Vehicles were pulled from the water due to forecasted icing conditions, and the Coast Guard said it will conduct an additional test and evaluation period next spring.
The added timeline is "part of a service-wide effort to evaluate how autonomous technologies enhance Coast Guard missions and assist operators," the press release said.
Each vehicle is 33 feet long and powered by both wind and solar energies with wind propellers and an auxiliary 4 kW electric motor.
The Coast Guard said the vehicles are remotely piloted by human operators and while the vessel does capture periodic still photographs, it does not record continuous video, does not use facial recognition software, and is not designed to target, track, or process recreational boat hull numbers.