NSWC Carderock Team Advances Robotic and Autonomous Systems

NSWC Carderock Team Advances Robotic and Autonomous Systems

By Alisha Tyer, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division

A team of engineers at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division is advancing how the Navy develops and employs robotic and autonomous systems across the maritime domain.

Led by William Gottwald, a mechanical engineer and Old Dominion University graduate, the team brings together expertise in robotics, autonomy, aerospace, and ocean engineering. Gottwald, who has spent eight years working with unmanned surface and subsea systems, now leads efforts to coordinate projects, conduct field testing, and meet sponsor objectives.

The team's work centers on unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and unmanned aerial systems (UAS), exploring how these systems operate together in multi-domain environments. While other groups, including Carderock's Combatant Craft Division, focus on the design and development of unmanned platforms, this team emphasizes how those systems are employed, developing and refining tactics through rapid prototyping and real-world experimentation.

"We're not just developing the technology, we're figuring out how to use it," Gottwald said. "Our goal is to test what works, what doesn't, and rapidly adapt how unmanned systems can be employed in real scenarios."

This approach directly supports the fleet by helping the Navy understand both the potential and the risks of unmanned systems. Through live testing and simulated threat scenarios, the team evaluates how adversaries might use similar technologies - and how the Navy can defend against them.

Their work also highlights a key advantage of unmanned systems: removing Sailors from dangerous environments while maintaining operational presence.

"Unmanned systems allow us to operate in high-risk areas without putting people in harm's way," Gottwald said. "We can design tactics where losing a system is acceptable, but losing a person is not."

The team includes:

• Theo Winter, Robotics Engineer (Software & Applied AI), Worcester Polytechnic Institute
• Zachery Birkbeck, Aerospace Engineer (Unmanned Aerial Systems), Penn State College of Engineering
• Christopher Nunes, Ocean Engineer (Robotics Software & Hardware), Florida Atlantic University
• Joshua Choe, Robotics Engineer, University of Virginia (B.S.), Johns Hopkins University (M.S.), CACI contractor supporting autonomy and control systems
• Eric Lethin, Mechanical Engineer, Rochester Institute of Technology, CACI contractor supporting robotic hardware design

Together, the team is helping the Navy stay ahead of rapidly evolving threats by understanding how unmanned systems can be used at scale. Their work explores everything from swarming tactics to operating in environments where traditional navigation systems like GPS may not be available.

"We're trying to learn how to counter these systems before they're used against us," Gottwald said. "As this technology becomes more accessible, it's critical that we understand both how to use it and how to defend against it."