Key Features

Increases the operational envelope of existing sensor platform systems by 200%

Diffraction limited 5-20cm resolution across the full swath

Less than 12W power consumption for both sides; a considerable saving over current systems

Enables onboard computer-aided detection and classification

Co-registered side scan imagery with full swath bathymetry (COBI)

Unique algorithms guarantee minimal waterfall distortion at long ranges

Extreme multi-beam performance at 65 beams per frame

Multipath Suppression Array Technology (MSAT)

Real Time Auto-Calibration (RTAC)

Datasheet

Solstice Side Scan

Solstice is a new generation of search and classify side scan sonar with integrated swath bathymetry.

The sonar has been designed specifically for operation on small, medium and large AUVs. It increases the operational envelope of a vehicle significantly by providing wide swath coverage at high resolution whilst consuming less than12 Watts of power. This results in high area coverage rates and long vehicle endurance.

Solstice’s onboard processing produces geo-coded side-scan imagery and co-registered bathymetry which is available for onboard automatic target recognition and post-mission analysis.

The imagery produced by Solstice is designed to be of the highest quality possible from a conventional (non-SAS) sonar. To achieve this, the system uses several innovative techniques.

The image is fully focussed with 65 beams formed on each side. A ‘back-projection’ beam-forming technique focuses the beams on every point over a 1” x 1”grid of pixels over the entire swath.

Micro-mosaicing algorithms (P²I) stitch ‘tiles’ together minimising distortion at long ranges. Objects are displayed in high resolution, high contrast and minimum geometric distortion.

The system auto-calibrates itself each ping cycle in order to compensate for any deformation in the array due to vehicle flexing, temperature and depth effects.

The effects of multi-path are reduced by the design of the array.

Click here to read the Solstice article published in IOS magazine, March 2010