UK-built tiny sailing robots collect first-ever data from live Category 5 hurricane at sea

UK-based company Oshen, founded by Anahita Laverack, has achieved a groundbreaking milestone by collecting live data from inside a Category 5 hurricane at sea for the first time. Initially focused on building small autonomous sailing robots for ocean crossings, Laverack realized the critical challenge was the lack of real-time ocean and weather data, which made existing robots fragile and ineffective. This insight led to the creation of Oshen’s C-Stars—small, durable, and relatively inexpensive autonomous sailing drones capable of operating in swarms and surviving up to 100 days at sea while collecting valuable environmental data. In 2025, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) commissioned Oshen to deploy a fleet of C-Stars into Hurricane Humberto. Of the five drones sent, three survived and successfully gathered crucial hurricane data, marking the first time such information was collected live from within a Category 5 hurricane. This data is expected to enhance weather prediction models, improve naval awareness, advance