US Patent 7789723 Unmanned ocean vehicle

An unmanned, autonomous, waterborne vehicle (500) for marine use capable of operating on and below the surface of water, said vehicle (500) including an enclosed hull (501) having a payload bay (506), a hybrid propulsion system having energy collection means (504) in the form of a wing sail (503) covered with photovoltaic cells and energy storage means (511) for utilizing at least solar energy and wind energy, a plurality of sensors (508, 514) for detecting predetermined environmental parameters and a communications system (509, 515) for transmitting data from said sensors (508, 515) to and for receiving command signals from one or more remote stations and/or cooperating vehicles.