Award-winning eco-vessel highlights area’s innovation
OUR series exploring innovative Northern Devon-based businesses continues this week with Cllr Mark HaworthBooth delving deeper into the oceanic world of AutoNaut.
The series has been inspired by the Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon’s current exhibition, Northern Devon Innovates, where you can find out more about AutoNaut and a host of other ground-breaking businesses that are driving progress locally and globally, and across multiple sectors from digital tech and aerospace to marine engineering, pharmaceuticals, clothing and more.
Northern Devon Innovates is open until January 24.
Cllr Haworth-Booth, chair of the museum’s advisory board, writes: “There are so many exhibits in the Northern Devon Innovates show I’d like to write about – all of them, actually.
“One of the main aims of the exhibition is to demonstrate to a wide general public that there is much more to our region than our well-known and much-valued expertise in agriculture and tourism.
“We also excel in a wide variety of
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other enterprises, including innovative engineering, so I’m going to choose the AutoNaut. I’ve chosen it partly because I’m writing this at the time of COP 30 – when climate change is being discussed in Brazil by world leaders.
“I first heard about the AutoNaut in an inspiring talk given by Chris Fuller, economic development officer at Torridge District Council. Chris and his opposite number at North Devon Council, Dominie Dunbrook, were invaluable in guiding the museum in its selection of exhibits for this show.
“Although the AutoNaut looks like a yellow submarine, it’s a USV – an uncrewed surface vessel.
“It caught my imagination because it’s powered by solar panels and a new technology which creates energy from wave action. Patented wave foil technology converts ocean wave energy into forward thrust, enabling continuous, fuel-free movement.
“AutoNaut is a near-silent, zeroemission platform ideal for environmental monitoring in sensitive marine habitats. Its ability to operate autonomously for extended periods, powered entirely by renewable energy, allows for long missions. Equipped with passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) and visual sensors, AutoNaut can gather critical data on marine mammals’ presence, behaviour and migration, as well as monitoring seabird and fish populations. It’s also helping with plastic clean-up operations in the Pacific.
“Equipped with satellite communication systems, AutoNauts provide realtime data transmission for mission operators. You can read an article about the vessel in the spring 2025 edition of Eco magazine .
“Founded in 2013, AutoNaut has evolved from a visionary startup to a leader in autonomous marine technology. The company is dedicated to innovation and environmental responsibility. Just a few days after the opening of our exhibition in late October we heard AutoNaut had been awarded the Excellence in Ocean, Marine and Coastal Monitoring Technologies Award at the Varysian Global Event held in Vienna.
“This is a fantastic achievement for the AutoNaut team but it’s also a reminder of what surprising and globally significant innovations come out of our amazing part of England.”