Starting out with a new concept and building a highly capable survey-grade autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) could be a daunting task. How about targeting a launch date within two years?
Quincy, Massachusetts, based underwater robotics innovator Dive Technologies has done just that. Founded in 2018, Dive Technologies has now produced a vehicle that’s not only already operating commercially, through a robotics as a service (Raas) model, but it’s delivering a level of navigational accuracy not seen before in a commercial AUV, thanks to a key piece of Sonardyne technology.
The key to their success has been to forge strong partnerships with everything from control system developers and battery manufacturers to acoustic and inertial technology providers like ourselves. Working with industry partners has meant they’ve been able to leverage the highest performance, best in class commercial-off-the-shelf-systems (COTS) – we’re talking calibration-free out-of-the-box navigational accuracy of <0.01% of total distance travelled or better than 0.04% of distance from origin. More on that later.
A key part of the development has been to opt for high-performance COTS, such as SPRINT-Nav for navigation, allowing the company to focus on building certain customized systems in-house.
Big ambitions
If you’ve not heard of Dive Technologies, they’re a small company of 17 employees with a big ambition. They’ve developed a large displacement “DIVE-LD” AUV. Measuring 48 inches in diameter and 19 feet long, the DIVE-LD AUV is a commercial AUV that is designed to support pier-launched, multi-day missions. The vehicle architecture is very flexible and can house a full suite of survey sensors such as synthetic aperture sonar, multibeam sonar, sub bottom profiler and cameras. While the vehicle is designed for full ocean depth, down to 6,000 m, its size makes it a very stable shallow water data collection platform, well-suited for survey in coastal waters where surface effects can impact data quality.
Extensive sea trails of the vehicle started in 2020, to validate that it could deliver robot-as-a-service (RaaS) operations in 2021, and paid RaaS work started on schedule in early-April.
Dan Zatezalo, Technical Sales Manager Defense at Sonardyne Inc, reminds us: “We started working with Dive Technologies in 2019, and it’s been a great journey. From initial discussions around their performance requirements – the highest possible – to sea trials from August 2020 through to this March, it’s been an amazing journey.
Dive’s end goal is to solve the pain points of commercial survey operators with a low-logistics, pier launched, long-endurance AUV for littoral and deep-water survey and inspection operations. We’re talking about a platform that’s able to perform pre-construction and through life wind farm surveys, so no need for crewed survey vessels. To do that, extremely high navigational accuracy is needed.”
Ioseba Tena, Head of Defence at Sonardyne, picks up the story.
“Initially they approached us to look to integrate our acoustic solutions for tracking and communications, but, as we explored their requirements, it was obvious that their value proposition required extremely good positioning,” he says. “Large AUVs are fantastic because they can carry more batteries, which translates to longer endurance. But for the value of that additional coverage to be realized, the AUV needs to know where it is with an acceptable accuracy.”
“Initially we discussed what our SPRINT-Nav 300 hybrid navigation system could do in support of their mission, but as we explored their requirements, it became very clear that Dive’s requirement was really geared towards our SPRINT-Nav X.”
SPRINT-Nav X is the highest-grade SPRINT-Nav in our SPRINT-Nav family. SPRINT-Nav variants are available across a range of performance levels, all in the same AUV-friendly form factor, supporting Dive Technologies’ focus on mission adaptability. A SPRINT-Nav 500 was initially integrated into the DIVE-LD. When the higher performance SPRINT-Nav X was required, it was truly a simple swap out. It does not get easier to upgrade the navigation performance of an AUV.
Proving performance
The proof is in the pudding, as the saying goes. Dive Technologies’ latest trials, in Buzzard’s Bay off the coast of Massachusetts and Narragansett Bay, off Rhode Island, more than met all of our expectations. The trials saw the complete vehicle system validated, including GPS, vehicle timing, vehicle controller and our SPRINT-Nav X.
The results were superb, with average real-time navigational accuracy of 0.02-0.03% of the distance from the origin straight out of the box. “To our knowledge, this is twice as accurate as our nearest commercial competitor,” Tim Raymond, Director of R&D at Dive, says. He explains: “Integration of the SPRINT-Nav X system into our existing DIVE-LD vehicle allowed us to achieve a level of navigational performance beyond what was previously thought to be industry standard. This testing was performed with a SPRINT-Nav X as it was delivered to us, with no in-situ calibration.
“After one day offshore with this unit, our navigational accuracy was demonstrated at <0.03% of vehicle distance from origin, on a 10 km straight-line mission to represent the worst case for navigation accuracy. No special in-water pre-mission alignment was required, allowing us to rapidly deploy the AUV and begin collecting data immediately.”
Achieving this level of navigation accuracy makes it possible for long-endurance AUVs to be suitable replacements for the large, crewed surface vessels that are utilized today, to conduct seabed and infrastructure surveys for customers in the energy market. – Dive Technologies.
Bill Lebo, Dive Technologies’ co-founder, says, “We recognize that there is a very high barrier to entry in the wind farm survey market as requirements are very difficult to meet. It’s a testament to our team and the commercial AUV we have brought to market that the navigational accuracy we’ve achieved will allow us to confidently collect data for seabed surveys and cable route surveys throughout the entire lifecycle of offshore wind farm construction. Our DIVE-LD AUVs will dramatically drive down data collection costs, get surveys off the critical path for wind farm development and offer a safe and clean alternative to augment the scarce vessel fleet.”
Dan says the relationship with Dive has been really rewarding, “One of the things we realized when we looked at the data is just how stable and operationally reliable the DIVE-LD platform is,” he says. “The Dive team has developed an impressive AUV, their expertise and know-how shines through the vehicle design and performance. The DIVE-LD stability, endurance and large flexible payload capacity in combination with our SPRINT-Nav X offers a very capable platform for a host of autonomous operations and applications. When we looked at the data, it was easy to see how far we travelled and how insignificant the error growth was. This means that you can make the most out of the DIVE-LD platform as it will be gathering meaningful data with meaningful positioning accuracy.”
https://www.sonardyne.com/complete-sonardyne-suite-for-dive-technologies-large-displacement-auv/
The world’s deepest diving acrylic hulled manned submersible is to be equipped with Sonardyne’s BlueComm optical communications link to allow live streaming of deep ocean expeditions anywhere in the world.
The Triton 7500/3 series submersible will operate from REV Ocean, one of the world’s most advanced research vessels, currently under construction for the Norwegian non-profit organisation of the same name.
BlueComm will allow the occupants of the Triton submersible to live stream high-definition video and audio to the surface, including to those onboard the vessel’s 35-person auditorium or even website and television audiences worldwide, to share first-hand in their experience.
The Triton 7500/3 is the only acrylic hulled submersible able to carry up to three people down to 2,286 m water depth. BlueComm will support its missions by transmitting data using high power light emitting diodes (LEDs) that are rapidly modulated.
Most underwater data transmission is done using acoustic signals, because of the ability of sound to travel long distances, measuring many kilometres, through water. But the bandwidth available using acoustics is not wide enough for high-definition video. By using light, BlueComm is able to stream up to 10 Mbps over up to 150 m.
During its missions, REV Ocean’s Triton submersible will work alongside a 6,000 m rated Kystdesign remotely operated vehicle (ROV), which will also be fitted with BlueComm. The Triton submersible will stream its video to the ROV, which will in turn feed the data up to the REV Ocean research vessel via a cable.
REV Ocean’s Triton 7500/3 is being built by Triton Submarines, builders of the first fully accredited (DNV/GL) submersible capable of diving to full ocean depth. The Triton’s unique pressure hull is being made of acrylic, which is over 300 mm (1 foot) thick, and offers passengers a 360 degree and unobstructed view of the ocean during dives of up to 12 hours in duration. The design uses certified, aircraft-grade materials, Lithium-ion battery technology as well as pressure-balanced and oil-filled sub-systems to achieve its remarkable depth capabilities.
This is the latest application of BlueComm onboard a Triton submersible. In 2019, the Nekton Foundation used BlueComm to conduct the world’s first live streaming to global audiences from a submersible during their First Descent expedition in the Indian Ocean. This was quickly followed by the world’s first presidential address from a manned submersible, on the same mission. Both milestones were undertaken using a Triton 1000/2.
“Triton is delighted to be working with the talented and resourceful team at Sonardyne again,” says Patrick Lahey, Triton Submarines’ President. “The Sonardyne BlueComm system is an example of a transformative technology, which dramatically enhances the effectiveness and utility of our entire range of human occupied vehicles. Project REV is a very ambitious ocean exploration project aimed at furthering our knowledge and understanding of the ocean and the Sonardyne BlueComm system is a critical part of capturing the essence of what it is like to be on a dive in human occupied vehicle with remarkable accuracy and quality. The content made possible by the BlueComm system will dramatically enhance the viewing experience for the audience by making it both more powerful and compelling.”
“Through-water communication using BlueComm not only provides a reliable alternative to using cables underwater, which can be expensive to install and vulnerable to damage, for projects like this, it also provides the freedom for scientific vehicles and their occupants to explore the deepest seas and oceans yet still be connected with the surface,” says Geraint West, Global Business Manager, Oceanographic, at Sonardyne. “Nekton’s First Descent Mission in 2019 illustrated BlueComm’s unique ability to bring ocean conservation directly into peoples’ homes, furthering education and understanding. We’re delighted that BlueComm will now play an integral part in supporting the REV Ocean team during their future science cruises.”
Alex Rogers, the Science Director of REV Ocean said “BlueComm is a revolutionary technology enabling live transmission of submersible dives to audiences around the world. It can truly convey the excitement of ocean exploration as demonstrated last year in the Indian ocean by the Nekton Foundation. For REV Ocean it is a great asset for ocean literacy, educating civil society and policy makers about the beauty and value of the deep ocean but also about threats such as plastic pollution, ghost nets and disruption from the changing climate. It also enables scientists on our mothership or even back on land to remotely participate in dives even though they are not physically present.”
Coronavirus might have put a major limit on many global travel plans over the last year, but it’s not abated a hunger for larger and expedition style superyachts, adventure and travel to more remote locations.
The desire for large and explorer class superyachts is a trend that has been growing for some time. Today there are well over 30 superyachts exceeding the 115m mark and more are in-build, some of which have been specifically designed for research and exploration.
The drivers are clear. There’s a new breed of adventurous superyacht owner that wants to go off the beaten track. They want vessels that can be self-sufficient for longer, providing the ultimate platform for exploration in remote areas. But being more adventurous means more risk. With the right technology, it’s risk that can be removed.
De-risking expeditions with forward looking sonar
Security and safety is an area in which UK-based marine security specialist MarineGuard Systems is increasingly involved. The company usually helps owners of superyachts, typically those in the 100 m and above range, to install and integrate complex security systems – creating a virtual bubble around a yacht, with outer and inner perimeters, that’s able to recognise and communicate changes in the security environment.
Sonardyne has a longstanding relationship with MarineGuard and for a number of years we’ve been working together to supply systems that look after the underwater part of that perimeter – introducing a whole new dimension to maritime security systems. That’s usually by deploying our Sentinel Intruder Detection Sonar (IDS). Sentinel alerts vessel managers or owners to any underwater threats, such as approaching divers or even autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).
Underwater CCTV for navigating unknown waters
But while Sentinel protects superyachts from intruders, what about protecting these prized assets from hidden threats while they’re cruising or navigating new or uncharted waters?
The growth in expedition style yachts and a hunger to explore off the beaten track has meant MarineGuard is increasingly being asked to install forward looking sonars (FLS) on to superyachts as an essential navigational aid. They’re a powerful tool that visualise the seabed beneath and ahead of the vessel in 3D, highlighting via live, clear 3D graphics the bathymetry, including uncharted reefs, wrecks, sand bars and more, so that ship captains have ample time to change course. They can also pick out objects in the water column, which may otherwise be unseen.
However, in the past, it’s been a challenge to install some FLS systems. MarineGuard has completed a number of FLS installations for superyachts around the world. But because of their size, the most capable systems have been limited to only the very largest superyachts.
Forewarned is forearmed with Vigilant FLS
Not any more. We recognised this challenge and the result is Vigilant, a new FLS. It’s an impressive tool. It builds crystal clear, easy to interpret live 3D imagery of the seabed, down to 100 m water depth and out to 600 m ahead, constantly. Vigilant’s graphics show the seabed in stunning clear detail ahead. It’s so clear you can pick out a narrow channel or an anchorage. You can also look at where you’ve been, to pick a return course.
Vigilant also automatically detects submerged objects ahead of your vessel, out to 1,500 m. We’ve had one user already tell us it’s picked up even a channel marker at 1,100m range. This is a significant safety feature when in busy waterways or even out in open waters. These are hard to match capabilities and they’re all available through a new, simple to use touchscreen GUI or third-party ECDIS systems.
But, crucially, it’s 90% lighter and much smaller than our previous generation FLS. We recognised that size was an issue, so we re-designed the sonar head so that is it now 31cm wide – that’s small enough for use on uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) and even the diver delivery units (DDUs) commonly used by Navy SEAL teams to covertly access hard to reach underwater areas. In fact, it’s being integrated into UK firm SubSea Craft’s VICTA DDU!
So how does it work?
The sonar works by transmitting acoustic energy into the water, through a 90-degree azimuth, and listening for the echoes, which it then uses to build up a picture of what’s in the water, all of which is underpinned by advanced signalling techniques and data processing. It’s a process that’s even more complex than multi-beam echo sounders, which use a fan of beams to map the water column and seabed topography, because instead of looking directly beneath the ship, the fundamental operational requirement of an FLS means delivering the same type of information many hundreds of metres ahead of the ship, often in shallow water. We need to ‘forward look’ and still provide navigationally relevant terrain and object detection data. That’s not easy.
Easier to install
MarineGuard is already supporting the installation of Vigilant systems and say it’s already noticeable how much easier it is to install, thanks to the reduced size and weight. It means that it’s not just the largest superyachts that can now benefit from the most capable FLS systems in the market. Smaller vessels can now also benefit from knowing exactly what lies beneath the waterline, below and ahead, as they set a course for their next adventure into new and even uncharted territories.
In today’s travel restricted world, that even helps to ease logistics prior to mobilising for that next expedition trip off the beaten track.
The world’s population continues to grow. We’re consuming more, using more energy, depleting more of the planet’s resources. Balancing these needs is a massive challenge. It means changing how we live and work.
At Sonardyne, we’re dedicated to supporting you, our customers, across the energy spectrum in addressing this challenge; from how we operate as a business to the solutions we provide, says Edd Moller, our new Head of Energy.
A lot has changed over the past few years, not least during the last 15 months. Restrictions imposed by the Coronavirus pandemic have meant many plans to adopt remote operations, digital twins and advanced analytics, have been accelerated. The spotlight on climate change is also making us all look a lot more closely at the energy system we inhabit and how we can operate within it more sustainably.
Efforts to reduce emissions have been redoubled, reinforcing and accelerating ever-higher targets – and even changing entire business models. We’re all now on the energy transition pathway, one way or another.
Here at Sonardyne, we started on both pathways a number of years ago – both in how we run our business, investing in low energy systems at our headquarters, for example, and in the products and services we provide.
We’re building on a deep heritage across the marine industry. Over the past five decades we’ve been supporting underwater operations, we’ve constantly been seeking ways to allow you to do things more efficiently; whether that’s increasing the capabilities of our individual instruments, which we’ve been doing since we launched the company in 1971, or allowing you to remotely operate our systems, via crewed or uncrewed surface and underwater vehicles – bringing to life the new era of remote operations centres.
Today, balancing the world’s energy needs with our impact on our climate, means we have a challenge on all fronts. In the offshore oil and gas industry, which has been the driving force for most of our past technology development, we need to support the decarbonisation effort. We will still need oil and gas for some years to come, as an energy source and for day-to-day products, but it needs to be produced and used in the lowest emission way possible. That means doing more remotely, to reduce the carbon footprint of operations, but also taking CO₂ out of the system by de-risking carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. We’re already supporting these efforts and I’ll continue to coordinate and prioritise these efforts.
Supporting a rapid acceleration in offshore renewable energy
But by far the largest challenge is to support the rapid acceleration of offshore renewable energy (ORE) development and we’re playing our part here too. Our technology is already supporting further growth in the offshore renewable energy industry.
Whether that’s providing accurate subsea tracking of seabed mapping sensors to ensure a fixed wind farm is installed on stable footings or monitoring floating platform mooring lines to maximise their working life, or enabling navigation and acoustic communications for controlling fleets of uncrewed underwater and surface inspection and maintenance vehicles, our technologies are enabling smarter offshore renewable energy operations.
But there’s still work to be done. With countries globally setting tens of gigawatt targets for offshore wind roll out, and many now focusing on the scaling up and cost reduction of floating offshore wind, there’s a big challenge and a big opportunity.
We’re ready for it and we’re ready to support you and our wider customer base across the whole energy spectrum. Not only that, it’s our 50th year as a company and we’re looking to the future, which includes setting our own target for carbon neutrality by 2025, laying the foundations for another successful 50 years.
I hope you’ll agree, it’s a very exciting time to be working in the energy industry!
The 21st century battlespace is complex. It’s multi-domain, it’s multi-threat and it’s not always obvious open, armed conflict. The underwater battlespace embodies all of these challenges to an increasingly significant degree. It’s a space that’s pivotal to protecting critical national infrastructure and safeguarding maritime trade.
But it’s also a challenging place to operate, whether that’s in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, mine hunting capability or command and control. It’s also a space where the threats are proliferating, from advances in antisubmarine warfare through to asymmetric actors, crewed, uncrewed, small and autonomous.
Working between all these actors – be it different platforms, domains and nations – in the underwater theatre is an even bigger challenge. It requires interoperability and that means the need for assets across domains and nations to talk to each other. A new standard in underwater communications is needed to meet these needs.
Sonardyne has been leading a technical programme to develop a high-integrity secure waveform for acoustic communications, set up in response to a Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) requirement. The work, funded by the UK Ministry of Defence, via Dstl, and primed by Thales UK, seeks to develop Phorcys, an open standard for secure acoustic communications that will enable navies to collaborate and interoperate, assuring secure transmissions and communications. Alexander Hamilton, Principal Communications Scientist at Dstl, and Ioseba Tena, Head of Defence at Sonardyne, discussed what this means.
Supporting anti-submarine operations
“One of the big problems at the moment is interoperability,” says Hamilton. “There needs to be a secure, high-performance protocol for anyone and everyone to use. We need secure, interoperable communications to underpin command, control and communications, to do mine countermeasures and mine hunting, to support anti-submarine operations.
“Underwater communications is a critical enabler, to take an example it’s key to enable things like the Future Commando Force advanced autonomous force. We need to work collaboratively, to achieve interoperability between the UK and its allies, but also multi-domain integration of underwater assets where they are able to connect to a wider mission network. But to enable all this we need the underwater battlespace to have secure, resilient, underwater communications.”
Tena says, “We already have open standards, take for instance JANUS. This was designed as the first interoperable protocol; the first step towards interoperability. I guess the missing ingredient with JANUS and other standards has been security.”
Secure and resilient underwater communications
Hamilton explains, “Yes. That’s right. The difference is having a secure and reliable protocol stack and there’s a difference between resilience and security. Security is about having confidentiality, integrity and availability. Resilience speaks to integrity and availability, but doesn’t necessarily provide that confidentiality.
“Traditional acoustic communications in the commercial domain are resilient, with high availability and high performance, but while commercial-off-the-shelf systems allow interoperability, they result in vendor lock-in. Furthermore, they’re also not inherently secure. And while existing protocol stacks can have security added on, AES-256 encryption for example has been applied to JANUS, this adds overheads and is outside of the protocol stack. It’s not a secure by design approach. We want to have high performance communications to support fast information transfer across the underwater battlespace. We also need security.”
Introducing Phorcys
“It’s the development of a high-performance protocol stack that will be available as an unclassified (non-protectively marked) standard,” says Hamilton. “It’s a secure-by-design approach using cryptographic keys, not just security by obscurity. We’re working with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) on that to ensure security of these communications is approved to government standards. Adhering to the standard will allow for multi-domain integration across different assets, interoperability between different nations, platforms and areas within the navy. That’s because, by using cryptographic keying approaches, unless you have the key, you can’t get access to the network and you maintain the security of your communications. A third party wouldn’t be able to understand the content of what was being transmitted. Tena points out, “Cryptographic keys also accommodate different levels of interoperability. A UK platform with UK codes will only communicate securely with another UK platform with UK codes. A UK platform could also have NATO codes, to communicate with a NATO platform, or a US platform might have NATO codes, etc. “
“That’s the aim. In fact, the standard will be unclassified; it’s the key that defines which users have access to the information. That means there can also be a zero code that’s open to all.” Hamilton explains.
Situational awareness – recognising friend from foe
“Going forward, an important part of Phorcys will also be about enabling situation awareness between these underwater assets; being able to challenge and recognise friend from foe. In the future, during an operation in a busy seaway, it will become increasingly important to recognise your autonomous vehicle returning to a mother ship from an incoming autonomous torpedo.”
As part of the Phorcys programme, Sonardyne experts are collaborating with Newcastle University to design a waveform capable of working across different frequency bands in order to target all environments, from confined spaces to deep, open waters.
“Phorcys is exciting because it will allow for interoperability between different platforms across the entire underwater battlespace as it will operate at different frequency bands,” says Hamilton. “If you want longer range, you might use lower frequencies. For small unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) operations, you might want to use one of the frequency bands at 20 to 28 kHz. It allows you to control UUVs with higher degree of fidelity. It allows you to get more data back, and provides assured command and control across your assets and fast data transfer. Because it’s being developed as a standard, there will be lower cost of development and a shorter time to deploy,” says Hamilton.
Open, interoperable standards
So what are Sonardyne’s plans for the technology? “Sonardyne intends to implement this standard and work with third parties to promote its use,” says Tena. Our aim, on completion of this project, will be to continue to offer our customers our commercial-off-the-shelf solutions, built on our commercially leading and robust Wideband digital signal heritage and expertise, as well as the opportunity to work with secure Phorcys waveforms using the same hardware platforms.
“We want vendor buy-in, not vendor lock-in. It will simplify procurement, because vendor systems that comply to the standard can be used together and there’s still space for companies to compete,” says Hamilton. “It opens up a different market space; it opens up competition on hardware and processing, optimising size, weight and power, for small UUVs, for example.
“It will also open up innovation higher up the protocol stack, in swarm autonomy behaviours, for example. Rather than being focused on communications, developers can focus on application and platform integration, layer processing, autonomy and graphic user interfaces into the network.
“Because the protocol will be unclassified, the work we’re doing will also be available to other industries to use. The oil and gas industry, for example, could use it as part of their underwater robotics operations, ensuring the security of their data.”
If you are interested in Phorcys and Sonardyne’s plans please don’t hesitate to contact our team: [email protected].
Oceanographic instrumentation developed by Sonardyne to monitor ocean currents has been acquired by the University of Rhode Island following its successful use in a US$2 million project in the US Gulf of Mexico.
The project, led by the University of Rhode Island (URI), saw an array of specialist sensors, including Sonardyne’s Pressure Inverted Echo Sounders (PIES), deployed for two years, to monitor the hugely disruptive Gulf Loop Current.
Sonardyne’s PIES were installed in waters down to 3,500 m depth early in 2019, to help better understand the current. Following successful wireless acoustic data harvesting campaigns from the instruments in 2019 and 2020, their deployment was extended to the end of May, this year.
Funding for the project, from the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS), was also extended, allowing URI to purchase the Sonardyne PIES used on the project outright, as well as a Dunker 6 telemetry transceiver, for wireless data harvesting from the instruments when they are on the seafloor. This will allow URI to use the instruments on its future projects.
The Gulf Loop Current system is a highly energetic ocean circulation feature that influences all ocean processes in the Gulf and is characterised by disruptive Loop Eddy events that have serious impacts on a wide range of human and natural activities, from oil exploration to coastal eco-systems. However, knowledge of its underlying dynamics has been limited, leading to this study, led by Kathleen Donohue, Project Director and Professor of Oceanography at URI.
PIES work by transmitting an acoustic pulse from an instrument on the seabed upwards. The pulse is reflected off the water-air boundary at the sea surface and returns back down to the seabed where it is detected by the PIES. This enables an exact measurement of the two way signal travel time to be calculated. At the same instant, an accurate measurement of depth is made using highly precise internal pressure sensors.
Combining data from an array of PIES instruments and near bottom current meters with historic water profile data can be used to calculate currents throughout the full water column over an extended area – in this case totalling over 50,000 sq km. For this project, Sonardyne enhanced the instruments with an integrated single point current meter, tethered above the units, leading to a modified designation as CPIES.
Randy Watts, Professor of Oceanography at URI, says, “The ability to receive the full time series of measurements plus engineering-performance checks via acoustic telemetry in 2019 and 2020 shows that the data are of high quality. The impressively low battery drain meant we could leave the CPIES untouched on the sea floor for the duration of our experiment. With the additional funding, we were also able to extend our observational window to nearly two years. This is important because each Loop Current Eddy formation is unique.”
“The Loop Current encounters different pre-existing eddies and different bottom topography in different locations with different inflow from the Caribbean and different wind fields,” says Professor Donohue. “These events inside the ocean are dynamically analogous to ‘weather’ and ‘storms’ in the atmosphere – and every bit as varied. Observing these many events and observing the full water column is highly valuable information to guide the forecast models.”
“Looking to the future, the telemetry capabilities of Sonardyne’s CPIES offer us an established way to collect the data at more frequent time intervals using an uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) and report it ashore to enable real-time forecasting of the entire Gulf of Mexico Loop Current System,” adds Professor Watts.
“URI have long been recognised as a leading proponent of using PIES to undertake large scale studies of ocean currents. Our collaboration with them has consequently taken our PIES technology to a new level, which we’re pleased to see being used in this important study. We look forward to continuing our close relationship with URI, including supporting more autonomous harvesting of their data.” Geraint West, Business Development Manager – Oceanographic, at Sonardyne
URI’s LCS study is being funded by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Gulf Research Programme, which was founded in 2013, as part of the legal settlements with companies involved in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The long-term objective is to improve forecasts of the Loop Current in order to increase the safety of operations in the Gulf.
Marine technology equipment supplier Sonardyne is aiming to become carbon neutral by the end of 2025, making it the first company of its type in the UK subsea industry to publicly announce such an ambitious target.
The goal covers direct and indirect emissions, including those associated with manufacturing as well as supply chain activities, from its UK sites and operations. It cements Sonardyne’s long-term commitment to being an environmentally responsible and sustainable business, with a clear goal towards supporting the Paris Agreement on climate change to limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius. The target will be guided by and certified to PAS 2060, the internationally accepted standard for carbon neutrality.
[blockquote author=” Graham Brown, Managing Director, Sonardyne”]”Sonardyne recognises the need for sustainable use of energy to mitigate climate impact and degradation of the environment for the preservation of future generations. Working to achieve PAS 2060 will help us clearly demonstrate our commitment to our employees, supply chain and communities where we operate. We all have a role to play in recognising and supporting the need for sustainable use of energy to mitigate climate change. Sonardyne have supported five decades of responsible operations on and under the world’s oceans and seas. As we begin our next 50 years, sustainability and the environment will be an even greater focus for us.”[/blockquote]
Sonardyne’s heritage is in underwater technology innovation; supplying underwater communication, navigation, positioning, imaging and monitoring technologies and services across energy, defence, and science. While the company has always made every effort to limit waste and damage to the environment, for the past five years, reducing energy consumption has been made a key priority.
Last year, Sonardyne invested heavily in roof-mounted solar arrays across its headquarters in Hampshire, covering an area equivalent to 13 tennis courts. The company also uses air source heat pumps, is ISO 50001 Energy Management System certified and has had a Building Management System installed for a number of years, helping it to make the most efficient use of energy for heating and power. Any further energy requirements are purchased from a certified renewable energy supplier.
Additional measures being considered to take it towards PAS 2060 include investment in large-scale batteries and grid services. These will benefit the company’s access to and cost of renewable energy. They will also provide additional storage to the wider grid. For areas that cannot be decarbonised any other way, the company will support high quality certified carbon offsetting schemes.
In addition to its investments in energy efficiency across its facilities, Sonardyne has been leading uncrewed and over-the-horizon technology development and adoption. This enables its customers users to realise major reductions in the use of energy-intensive crewed vessels, while also reducing risk to personnel and cost.
Edward Moller, Head of Market for Energy at Sonardyne, says, “Sonardyne’s earliest projects were in support of the offshore energy industry and it’s always been with a view of making operations easier, safer and more cost-efficient. That usually equates to doing more with less, both in terms of efficient technology to reduce operational time and physically, by performing the same task but with less equipment. Today is no different, except that our goals, like many of our customers, across renewables and oil and gas, are also aligned with the energy transition. The energy sector has the biggest role to play in this transition and we’re here to support it.”
Ioseba Tena, Head of Market for Defence, says, “Many of the world’s naval forces now see climate change as a threat to their strategic objectives. New commitments to meet net zero emissions add additional layers of complexity to the role of defending national interests in the already challenging underwater environment. That is why I am proud that we will continue to build lasting, best-in-class equipment and, in a few short years, these will be built with net zero emissions. This will be one less headache for our customers.”
Geraint West, Head of Market for Science at Sonardyne, says, “Climate change is a pressing global issue, which the world’s leading ocean research institutes and organisations have been leading the way in understanding. Having worked with many of them over several decades, we’re really aware that we need to play our part in reducing the carbon footprint of their research activities. As well as committing to PAS 2060, we’re also partnering the United Nations’ Decade of Ocean Science and we look forward to supporting the UN’s Climate Change Conference (COP 26) here in the UK later this year.”
Maritime defence technology company Sonardyne and uncrewed maritime systems (UMS) software experts SeeByte have been awarded UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) funding to enhance and extend the future operational capability of autonomous and remotely operated systems in challenging battlespace domains.
The collaboration is the second phase of the UK’s Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA)’s Autonomy in Challenging Environments competition and builds on the work both organisations undertook in Phase 1.
Sonardyne advanced underwater positioning system will be teamed with SeeByte’s adaptive, communication-aware, robotic behaviour developed for their autonomy system Neptune to allow the UMS to operate in highly complex, variable and communications-limited environments. Automatic target recognition imagery snippets will be transferred acoustically using SeeByte’s novel semantic compression software.
As part of the project, Sonardyne and SeeByte will be using surface and underwater assets from Project Wilton, a recently formed maritime autonomous systems (MAS) team based out of HM Naval Base Clyde. The collaboration will culminate in a series of in-water demonstrations at Project Wilton facilities in the UK.
Sonardyne will install a Mini-Ranger 2 underwater positioning system onboard Project Wilton’s ARCIMS uncrewed surface vessel (USV) and AvTrak 6 Nano telemetry and tracking transceivers to the team’s Iver 3 autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), which will be managed by SeeByte’s autonomous networked acoustic communications system.
In addition, Sonardyne’s SPRINT-Nav instrument will also be integrated with the ARCIMS USV to provide an independent navigation reference in GNSS-denied environments.
Teamed with SeeByte’s adaptive, communication-aware, robotic behaviour developed for their autonomy system Neptune, the UMS will be able to operate in highly complex, variable and communications-limited environments. Automatic target recognition imagery snippets will be transferred acoustically using SeeByte’s novel semantic compression software.
This project will enable optimal uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) distribution for improved subsea communications and navigation in a range of challenging environments.
Ioseba Tena, Head of Defence at Sonardyne said, “Collaborative autonomy is part of the maritime defence road map. We need to enable more robots and have fewer operators in the underwater battlespace. Working alongside leaders in autonomy development like SeeByte, to make that vision a reality, as part of the Autonomy in Challenging Environments competition, is a significant step towards that goal.”
DASA’s Autonomy in Challenging Environments competition is funded through the UK Ministry of Defence’s Chief Scientific Adviser’s Research Programme’s Autonomy Incubator project. Awards are made by DASA on behalf of Dstl.
The Autonomy Incubator project aims to: Identify and develop underpinning research and technologies to support the development and fielding of unmanned systems across defence. This work can be matured through the wider Dstl Autonomy Programme and other research and development programmes.
Dstl delivers high-impact science and technology for the UK’s defence, security and prosperity. Dstl is an Executive Agency of the MOD with around 4,000 staff working across four sites; Porton Down, near Salisbury, Portsdown West, near Portsmouth, Fort Halstead, near Sevenoaks, and Alverstoke, near Gosport.
Energy, defence and science technology company Sonardyne has launched a new, entirely portable configuration of its shallow water Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) system Micro-Ranger 2.
Everything needed to start tracking divers, remotely operated vehicles, autonomous underwater vehicles or any other subsea targets is contained in a single, IP67-rated ruggedised case small enough to operate-anywhere, from anything.
The one-box USBL solution is able to track up to 10 targets out to 995 m. Inside the case is a Micro-Ranger Transceiver (MRT) with 10 m of cable, a GNSS antenna with 5 m of cable, and two Nano transponders and command hub. A built-in battery provides more than 10 hours of continuous use, enough for a full day of activity out on the water. The case can also accept external power from a boat or shore supply.
To get started, users simply have to connect their laptop running the Ranger 2 software to the case via Wi-Fi, put the MRT in the water, connect the antenna, and fit a Nano to each target. Sonardyne says even first-time operators can expect to be up and running in around 30 minutes.
Nano transponders are the perfect size and weight for divers, small towfish and micro ROVs. The two that come in the case are Sonardyne’s recently introduced second generation model, offering extended battery life and depth rating. A connector-equipped Nano is also available allowing it to operate continuously via an external power source. Customers can choose the type of Nano transponder that comes with their system at the time of ordering.
The needs of AUV developers who need to both track and communicate with targets have been addressed with the Micro-Ranger 2 integrator system kit. It comes complete with Sonardyne’s add-on Marine Robotics software pack and AvTrak 6 Nanos, which support two-way messaging, vehicle control and tracking in one small instrument.
[blockquote author=” John Houlder, USBL product line manager at Sonardyne”]”Whether you’re looking for flexibility, ease of use, or convenience, Micro-Ranger 2 is the ideal solution. It’s a smaller, lighter and more complete portable system than anything else on market. And it’s very competitively priced when you consider everything that’s included in one box as standard It’s export-licence free and is engineered to be safely carried on passenger aircraft. Then, when you get to where you’re working; a quayside to track an ROV, a RIB for tracking divers or a small boat to track and control your AUV, just turn it on, connect to the control hub with your laptop and away you go”[/blockquote]
Micro-Ranger 2 is ideal for supporting shallow water operations in offshore wind, including seabed instrument positioning and release with its command functionality and/or positioning objects relative to each other. Because it’s built with the same Wideband-2 signal architecture and 6G hardware as Sonardyne’s Ranger 2 family, it’s also fully compatible with the company’s Release Transponder 6 range (RT 6). It also suits quick mobilisation for underwater inspections using small ROVs.
The integrator kit is ideal for AUV developers who want to trial their ideas and capabilities, including swarm capabilities, inshore before moving into deeper waters.
Sonardyne have also recently introduced an upgraded and extended Nano range which; improves the acoustic performance of the Nano transponder, extends its operational depth range and increases its acquiescent battery life to 90 days. Nano transponders are now available with or without connectors or as OEM options.
2021 is the start of the UN’s Ocean Decade. It couldn’t come sooner, says Head of Science, Geraint West. We have a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to improve our understanding of the oceans and ensure that their future management benefits humanity. We asked Geraint why – but also how and what his key takeaways are as we enter the Ocean Decade.
Why does the Ocean Decade matter?
Like many people, I’m increasingly concerned by the state of our oceans and the increasing pressures that changing climate, population growth and our use of them are creating. Personally, I’m therefore inspired by the United Nations (UN) declaration of a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (the Ocean Decade).
The Ocean Decade was triggered by the UN’s First World Ocean Assessment, published in 2016, which highlighted the decline in ocean health. However, for me, what is most important is that, since then, the concept of sustainability has been embedded in the Ocean Decade. This acknowledges that we will have a continuing need for use of the ocean, our seas and marine resources; it’s not just about creating protected areas, although that of course does have a crucial part to play. This concept is in alignment with UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”.
The bottom line, though, is that we can’t change how we use the oceans without better scientific understanding of them. In this respect, the Ocean Decade’s strapline, “the science we need for the ocean we want”, is an accurate summary of what it’s all about.
How will technology contribute to the Ocean Decade?
Throughout my 38 years of working in the marine sector, technology has always been central to measuring and interpreting the environment and the Ocean Decade will be no different. So, it’s no surprise to me that the Ocean Decade specifically highlights the role of innovative technologies in changing both access to and increasing the overall capacity of ocean science research infrastructure. Indeed, that’s pretty much what I spent my 15 years at the National Oceanography Centre doing, prior to joining Sonardyne. The difference at Sonardyne is that I’m now privileged to be working across a global community of universities and institutes on projects that range from the coast to the deep ocean.
So, what is this community telling me? In summary: we need to be more efficient and economic at collecting data and observing ocean processes at ever increasing resolution and temporal and spatial scales. This means making technology more capable, but also increasing its accessibility to a wider base of users. In addition, there’s a pressing need to reduce the carbon footprint of research operations. In this respect, over the past year, I’ve been fortunate to serve on the steering committee of the Natural Environment Research Council’s Net Zero Oceanographic Capability project. There are clear messages that technology will play a key role here as well, especially in enabling remote and autonomous oceanographic operations.
How will Sonardyne’s technology have an impact on the Ocean Decade?
In one word, it’s innovation. Sonardyne have a fantastic track record as an innovator. We recently received our fourth Queen’s Award, for developing technology to measure seabed deformation, which has been used to study a variety of processes, ranging from subduction zones to undersea landslips near volcanoes.
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In 2019, we also won awards with our partners Nekton, Sky and Associated Press recognising a number of ‘firsts’, including the first multi-camera live wireless signal, in full broadcast quality, from manned submersibles and the first official speech broadcast from underwater, by the President of the Seychelles. Using our BlueComm free-space optical communications technology, these were not only major technological achievements, but also important lessons in how the company can play a role in making the Ocean Decade meaningful to wider society – and we look forward to doing more of that in the months and years to come.
At the other end of the spectrum, we’ve introduced new, smaller instruments, enabling researchers with smaller budgets to access similar capabilities to some of our industry-standard systems when they’re operating in shallow waters and on smaller vehicles.
These include our Micro-Ranger 2 Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) positioning system, which is already establishing a track record as a powerful package for environmental monitoring (if you want to know more about Micro-Ranger, please sign-up for our upcoming shallow water application webinars). Likewise, our SPRINT-Nav Mini is the smallest hybrid acoustic navigator available and, although it was only launched recently, it has been selected by the University of Southampton for installation on their new SPARUS II autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV).
How are Sonardyne helping to reduce the carbon footprint of ocean science?
I know from my own experience of managing large, multi-disciplinary research vessels (RVs), that these are increasingly costly ships to run. They also have the largest carbon footprint of any of the tools used by oceanographers. Nevertheless, I don’t see them disappearing any time soon, due to the continuing need for large and, in some cases, power hungry over-the-side systems. That means it’s vitally important that we maximise the productivity of these vessels when they are at sea.
Going back 20 years, when I first went to sea on an RV with a USBL system, we purely thought of it as a system for tracking tow-bodies and remotely operated vehicles (ROV), while we still worked largely blindly with a range of other subsea systems. USBL systems can do far more today. Sonardyne’s Ranger 2 USBL system is now a highly flexible tool that increases productivity at sea. It can be used for a wide range of tasks from locating and releasing our RT 6 acoustic releases to simultaneous tracking and control of a swarm of AUVs.
It can also help reduce time – and therefore emissions – at sea. For example, Ranger 2’s telemetry capability means there’s no need to stop and hold station while you deploy a modem dunker over the side to communicate with seabed landers or moorings. You can even, reconfigure your instruments in-situ, without needing to recover them to the deck of an RV. This can also all be done from a smaller carbon footprint vessel and/or a vessel of opportunity, with either our Ranger 2 Gyro USBL or one of our other USBL systems, such as Mini-Ranger 2, because they all use the same 6G hardware and our Wideband 2 acoustics. That means you can easily interchange both your in-water instruments and USBL system.
We can’t talk about this subject area without mentioning the increasing use of uncrewed surface vehicles (USV). While, we’ve been providing the capability for smaller USVs to both harvest data and make precise seabed measurements for some time. We’ve also got a track record in working with USVs to support over-the-horizon ROV and AUV operations. More is coming, as we’ve seen with the launch of Ocean Infinity’s Armada fleet, which will be the world’s largest and most environmentally sustainable fleet of 17 ocean-going, multi-role robotic vessels – complete with Sonardyne’s Ranger 2 USBL systems.
When it comes to carbon emissions, ship size does matter. It’s about enabling the right platform to be used for the right job, which is the difference our technology makes.
How different will ocean science look at the end of the Ocean Decade?
Ship time is only one part of the challenge, whether crewed or uncrewed. That’s why we’ve also focused on low-power sensing solutions making instrument deployments in excess of a decade possible. So without a doubt, the future looks increasingly remote and autonomous.
Yes, this means that we’re going to see more long-term landers, moorings, USVs and AUVs, but these systems are also going to be smarter. This reflects a common trend that we’re seeing within the ocean science sector. Indeed, right across the marine sector in general, we’re seeing a common emphasis on cost reduction, as well as a growing need to deliver value-added actionable information direct to desks and labs ashore with as low a carbon footprint as possible.
This is going to mean an increasing focus on dealing with sensor data quality at source, in order to provide assurance of the delivered information. A great example of this is Sonardyne’s work on understanding how pressure sensors behave over time, which has been fundamental to the practical multi-year deployment of seabed pressure measurement instruments. Most recently, this has led to the development of our in-situ Ambient-Zero-Ambient (AZA) calibration mechanism, which has recently been ordered by two institutes for deployment in depths down to 7,000 metres.
What’s the takeaway message then?
As a company, we’re really looking forward to being part of the Ocean Decade, not just because it’s going to be an exciting time for subsea technology, but because we also believe in its aims to change the ocean for the better. That’s because the future of our company depends entirely on their continuing ability to sustain human activity – obviously that’s true not just in ocean science but in the energy and defence sectors as well. It’s not surprising therefore that we’re seeing the same drivers across all these sectors and I think that’s going to be the benefit of the Ocean Decade as both energy and defence are going to be investing in complementary technologies.
For us, it’s also not just about our technology. As an employer and a business, we have a role to play in how society tackles climate change and reducing our impact on the oceans. We look forward to telling you more about this on June 8, World Ocean Day. Watch this space!
But back to Ocean Science. This is a diverse sector that comprises a wide variety of disciplines studying and providing data on the global marine environment. We count a wide range of organisations, from local laboratories to the major global institutes, among our customer base, providing off the shelf and innovative custom engineered solutions and support. In short, we offer the tools for the science we need for the ocean we want.