Swarm Coordination in Hybrid Unmanned Surface Vehicle Platforms Featuring Integrated Drone Deployment

This study presents a conceptual framework for swarm coordination in Hybrid-Unmanned Surface Vehicle (H-USV) platforms featuring integrated drone deployment, designed for autonomous operation in marine and inland water environments. The focus is placed on developing a scalable and adaptable H-USV system design that integrates robust navigation, environmental perception, and mission-level coordination. Furthermore, the drone platform is structurally suited for marine conditions, operating autonomously based on predefined Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) waypoints. In addition, the H-USV utilizes the NAV-COM (Navigation and Command Algorithm for H-USV) system to integrate GNSS-based navigation with a perception module that combines Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and image processing (via onboard cameras). The overall system is designed to ensure modularity, environmental adaptability and reliable multi-agent communication, enabling a wide range of future applications. Consequently, TALAZ H-USV performs collaborative tasks such as environmental monitoring, surface exploration and coordinated swarm operations without requiring manual intervention.