LINK SOUTH WEST INTERVIEW

Neither fish nor fowl

Innovation can take place in any number of locations, not least in the mind of the innovator. But where small fir ms are concer ned, it happens more often than not in a place like Unit 5, Redhill Far m Business Park. It is in this barn-like building at the back of a farm north of Bristol that former BAE Systems director Harry Gosling, 52, occupies a bijou office alongside business partner Steve Price. The rest of the space is taken up with work benches and scattered about on these are a few clamps, some laptops and a tangle of rather traditional-looking bits of electronic equipment including the needle and gauge variety. There is also a rather odd-looking yellow machine. This is the laboratory of Harrys firm, GO Science. Supported by a small but dedicated engineering team, Harry has invented a revolutionary underwater flying robot. Unsurprisingly perhaps, there are only a very few types of underwater flying robots in the world but Harrys design is quite unique and enjoys several key advantages over its rivals. As such it is truly innovative. But why should anyone want such a thing? Harry (urbane, greying and in comfortable togs, looking every inch the former company man turned entrepeneur) is keen to talk of the potential markets for his device, and does so with such energy that the whole point of GO Science and Unit 5 quickly begins to make sense. There are a number of markets open to us, he explains. Environmental monitoring is an important one. Climate change research, for example, requires huge amounts of information about ocean temperature and associated processes. But why a robot? Is it not easier to dangle a thermometer over the side? Straightforward enough, yes, concedes Harry. But manned research vessels are very expensive to run. Much cheaper to have robots that can efficiently collect information from many depths and locations. At this point it is important to understand that GO Sciences robot, RHyVAU as it is known, is not just a remotely-controlled device, but one which can operate autonomously. Tasked with collecting information from a number of points in the ocean

it will take itself off and collect it. Remarkably RHyVAU can wander the seas for up to 4000km before needing to recharge its batteries. And RHyVAU (it stands for Ring Hydro Vessel Agent Under Liquid) can do more than just collect temperature data. Says Harry: Fit it with other sensors and it will also measure salinity, for example, or pollutant levels. And fitting RHyVAU with a camera opens up many more market sectors: Generating renewable energy from wind, wave, tides or marine currents is a growing market. RHyVAU can be detailed to make routine inspections of these underwater assets, doing the job much more cheaply than divers or remotely controlled devices. GO Science also has its eye on another burgeoning market: defence and homeland security. Says Harry: RHyVAU can patrol harbours to guard against terrorist intrusion or inspect ships hulls for either explosives or even illegal drugs which are increasingly being clamped to the underside of ships to avoid detection. It is not hard to see why RHyVAU might be one of those inventions which happens along at exactly the right time. All the markets Harry mentions are in areas of growing concern and all are expected to increase significantly over the coming decade. But how exactly does RHyVAU work and what sets it apart from its rivals? Its remarkable range is only partly dependent on the efficiency of its batteries and the electric motors that propel it, explains Harry. RHyVAU can adjust its buoyancy and this, combined with its wing, allows it to glide through the water on a gentle slope up or down, covering large distances underwater with very low energy usage. There are other underwater gliders mainly designs from the US but what makes RHyVAU unique is its unusual ring wing design. As Harry explains, wings work much the same underwater as they do in the air, and a ring wing is simply a wing which has been bent, if you like, into a circle. (Imagine taking the tips of an aircraft wing and bending them so
Continued on page 8

GO Science has been supported by Business Link in the West of England. For similar advice and support call 0845 600 9006

LSW

For advice and information visit www.businesslinksw.co.uk or call Business Link on 0845 600 9966

For advice and information visit www.businesslinksw.co.uk or call Business Link on 0845 600 9 006

LSW

LINK SOUTH WEST INTERVIEW

LINK SOUTH WEST INTERVIEW

From page 6

that they meet somewhere above the fuselage.) Our ring wing shape, using a double chevron sweep, with propulsion units placed within it, is exceptionally 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 5s workbenches, looks distinctly unimpressive. About the size of a laundry basket and looking like the casing from a small jet engine it is at first difficult to believe in the revolutionary nature of its design. But then Harry turns to his laptop and we can see video of RHyVAU in action, swimming with astonishing grace and agility, holding a measured straight line glide one minute, 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 until RHyVAU moves, is that the ring wing design is the result of many hours testing first virtual designs and then dozens of small models, until the flow dynamics were just right.

Price, has also identified further talents to be recruited as the company continues its expansion throughout this year. Happily we have had a lot of support, says Harry. Business Link helped us when we applied for R&D grant funding and Exeter and Loughborough Universities assisted with an industrial case award. Both applications were supported by South West RDA via a research grant. GO Science has also been supported by SETsquared, the enterprise partnership between the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Southampton and Surrey. This meant GO Science could benefit from laboratory space within Bristol University and an office in the Universitys Merchant Venturers building one of the SETsquared Business Acceleration Centres. Despite the help, Harry has still had to adjust his lifestyle to accommodate his new status as selfemployed entrepreneur. Its true what everybody says about starting a business. You have to tighten your belt, drive a smaller car, work longer hours. But in return Harry is seeing his vision slowly turn into reality and it is a vision that goes far beyond the underwater acrobatics his gizmo performs in the testing lake. One of RHyVAUs many startling features is that it can work as a swarm, that is in conjunction with many other RHyVAUs. Harry envisages dozens, perhaps hundreds, of his machines gliding the oceans, autonomously and co-operatively gathering information from a huge range of depths and locations and doing it in greater detail, and more cheaply than ever before. We wont just sell robots, he says. We will sell the information collecting network, or possibly just the data itself. Many of our potential customers wont actually want a RHyVAU; they want the information it can garner. And RHyVAUs sales potential already looks promising, with the US Navy and many multinational companies already taking a keen interest. RHyVAU is still under development. There are still engineering and software issues that have to be fine tuned before it is ready for the market. But Harry intends the first production models will be at work below the waves by 2010. And Harrys vision doesnt stop there. RHyVAUs unique wing design apparently means it may prove as astonishingly manoeuvrable in the air as it is in the water. So far it has only flown in our computers, says Harry. But we know that by changing the material and structural design of the wing it will fly pretty well. In fact our simulations predict performance levels that exceed the state of the art by some considerable margin. A whole new type of flying machine then an intriguing prospect. But this is innovation, an extraordinary mix of vision, risk and long hours being undertaken in an anonymous business unit somewhere near you. t: 0117 9151289 (Bristol office) or 01454 419600 (lab) e: [email protected]

Harry Gosling: Many of our potential customers wont actually want a RHyVAU; they want the information it can garner.

There is nothing like it in the world and and we believe nothing can match its performance underwater.

That it moves efficiently is plain to see. The test lake barely ripples as RHyVAU zooms just an inch or two below the surface, and Harry is understandably proud of his creation. In fact it is no exaggeration to say his eyes shine with boyish enthusiasm as he watches RHyVAU go through its paces for what must be at least the hundredth time. So how does a former BAE director end up in a shed with this remarkable machine? Like many an entrepreneur before him, it seems a form of redundancy was the kick-start to a new and riskier life. I was with BAE Systems for a long time, he says. British Aerospace even sponsored my electronics degree at Coventry University. After graduating he worked first at BAEs Hatfield site, before transferring back to his home city of Bristol and working at Filton. In all he spent 12 years involved with missile technology programmes and a further 16 years developing underwater sensor technology. He was director of underwater systems at Filton when his division was moved elsewhere so, rather than uproot his family, Harry decided to take redundancy and start GO Science. It was harder than he imagined. I thought, Well I already work hard and long hours so that shouldnt be a problem. I had no idea though, how all-consuming and hard getting this business going would be. It is, in fact, a remarkably ambitious project for a start-up business. Designing an autonomous robot with associated navigational and sensing technology from 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 and Margaret Wookey. Harrys business partner, Steve

GO Science has received a DIUS Grant for Research & Development, which is administered by the South West RDA. For more information, call 0117 933 0280

LSW

For advice and information visit www.businesslinksw.co.uk or call Business Link on 0845 600 9966

For advice and information visit www.businesslinksw.co.uk or call Business Link on 0845 600 9966

LSW