Designed in collaboration with Voyis and Innova, our dynamic laser scanning service is enabled using an all-in-one Work-class ROV skid with all acoustic, inertial and imaging sensors fitted, interfaced and pre-calibrated. High resolution geo-referenced underwater surveys using laser has widespread applications including; contactless metrology, wide-area structure mapping, pipeline inspections, mooring chain surveys, inland waterway inspections, scour surveys, seabed coral / fauna mapping, threat detection, wreck and drilling mud surveys.
Dynamic and fast
Our dynamic laser scanning skid is a turn-key survey solution comprising of all the hardware and software, pre-configured and calibrated, to enable simple and fast mobilisation, efficient acquisition, and if needed, in-person or remote support from our expert surveyors.
The skid is fitted with a SPRINT-Nav, ROVNav 6+, sound velocity, conductivity and temperature sensors, and a custom Voyis ULS500 Pro.
All the sensors are interfaced via an Innova Titan Matrix MKII+ multiplexor.
Until now, because dynamic centimetric-level navigation with fast update rates has not been commercially available, subsea laser and LiDAR systems have predominantly been used in a static mode. Due to the relatively short ranges achievable from these systems, multiple scans are required involving relocating the system to a number of locations on the seabed. Operationally, this is time consuming, both in terms of physically relocating the scanner, waiting for the visibility to clear after the scanner has been placed on seabed, and then processing time to merge the data together. It also means scans are limited to side, ground-level views.
With our dynamic platform, a site can be mapped quickly with no issues of reduced visibility as the ROV does not come into contact with the seabed and can move to scan any target of interest – including from above. High resolution point cloud data can contain a wealth of information which can be utilised for various engineering requirements, including revealing previously unknown features.
A tightly integrated, acoustically-aided navigation solution capable of meeting any positioning specification
Integration with other Sonardyne Group companies, Voyis and EIVA, enable the full package to be provided and supported
Help with planning your operations via our Survey Support Group
We are able to provide experienced surveyors to assist with operations, either offshore or remotely via our ROAM service
Navigation post processing service available
We aid SPRINT-Nav with tightly coupled two-way acoustic travel times, with each range received individually and precisely time-stamped
We combine individual Syrinx DVL beam velocities within SPRINT-Nav rather than generic DVL XYZ velocity
All acoustic aiding (LBL and DVL) uses rich proprietary quality metrics, and timing is guaranteed to the micro-second level
SPRINT-Nav INS provides direct time synchronisation (1PPS) for the ULS500 Pro, removing risk of issues with latency or timing jitter on ROV MUX communications to topside
Our Janus software is an extremely powerful tool for ensuring the very highest quality post-processed navigation with full QC of data. It performs both forwards and backwards post-processing of the INS data.
Logging of relative tidal data from a Compatt 6+ that can be used in post processing
Dynamic laser scanning enables large offshore sites to be mapped quickly and with complete precision, meaning complex structures and drill centres can now be scanned whilst minimising vessel time.
With our skid attached to your deep water research ROV, large areas can be mapped in high resolution, including entire wrecks and flora and fauna for habitat classification and population surveys.
• Comprehensively scan large areas with no gaps in coverage
• Cut survey time: no need to relocate sensor and wait for visibility
• Can operate in reduced turbidity due to being on a dynamic platform
• Scan items of interest at shorter range, in higher density without the need for relocating equipment
• Backed by our global customer and survey support group network
• Our laser skid is DNV rated for commercial, work-class ROV operations
• All equipment is supplied with the latest software and firmware, meaning no compatibility issues
• The factory-supplied equipment is pre-configured to ensure it can be mobilised as quickly as possible while reducing risks and complexity commonly associated with sensor integrations from several different vendors
Our field service, survey and application engineers are ready 24/7 to ensure your operations go to plan – whether they are onsite with you or remotely located. Our in-person field services cover a broad spectrum of requirements, from a site survey or shipyard visit to help identify the optimum location for equipment, to follow-on installation, commissioning, sea trials, training and client acceptance.
Our services and support teams work with customers from early planning through to deployment, operation, maintenance, technical support and spares. Whether you need technical guidance, field support or urgent assistance, we provide practical help to keep your projects moving.
At Sonardyne, we help our customers get the most from their systems. We focus on reducing downtime, simplifying deployment, improving confidence in the field, and supporting long-term performance.
\ Before deployment: We provide product and application guidance, planning support, integration advice, and assistance with trials and commissioning.
\ During operations: We support you with technical troubleshooting, remote support, urgent operational assistance, and best-practice guidance.
\ After deployment: We continue to support you with servicing and spares, support, and guidance.
\ Available 24/7, 365 days of the year
\ Staffed by experienced personnel, fully certified to work offshore
\ Personnel handpicked to meet the requirements of your project; engineers, surveyors, application experts
\ Teams based globally providing ‘follow-the-sun’ cover
\ Remote support helps deliver safe, green, efficient operations
We provide support for troubleshooting, product operation, documentation, software, firmware, and system queries. Our team works with you to resolve issues quickly and guide you to the right next step.
We offer practical support for deployment, commissioning, trials, Casius calibration, health checks, integration, and operations. Through onsite and remote assistance, we help teams work efficiently and with confidence.
Where projects require something more tailored, we provide specialist engineering and technical service capabilities to support specific operational requirements.
Offshore, every second counts towards delivering a project on time. Our experienced teams understand these pressures and know how to get best performance from your investment in Sonardyne technology.
Having our field engineer on onboard your vessel helps your research run to plan. And with remote services like ROAM, we can now be virtually by your side.
\ Specialist service in addition to offshore field operations
\ Run by our dedicated Applications Group
\ Full service; we take care of your entire data collection and delivery
\ Or supported service; we optimise your existing USV to gather data
\ Support can be delivered offshore or remotely
\ Available for one-off missions or multi-season campaigns
\ Specialist service in addition to offshore field operations
\ Run by our dedicated Technology Services team
\ Support can be delivered offshore or remotely
\ Qualified surveyors experts in complex LBL, INS and USBL operations
\ Report to your party chief during operations; 12 hour shift patterns
\ Have access to a range of in-house tools to assist with project planning and procedural review
Technology Services brings together senior Sonardyne specialists, each possessing expert level product knowledge and operational experience, to help you prepare and run your energy, defence and science projects. Technology Services, known formerly as the Survey Support Group (SSG), was originally setup to help companies in the offshore survey and construction industry to make the most effective use of their Sonardyne acoustic positioning, communications, and inertial navigation technologies.
Our technology specialists help to de-risks projects, reduce equipment spreads and save vessel time, is now extended to support a wider range of our technologies and organisations working in defence and science, and operational services we can work directly for you; either in person or remotely located. Underpinning Technology Services is the five decades of knowledge and experience we’ve accumulated. Each team member has direct experience of every type of marine environment, and assisted on every type of project; from installing large oilfield structures to search and salvage. Their knowledge also feeds back into our research and development activities to ensure future products meet your needs.
Technology Services’ goal is to make sure that when your project gets underway, you’ve got the right spread of hardware deployed, the right operational procedures defined, and the right settings set in hardware and software to ensure success.
Within energy, Technology Services regularly assist survey companies and contracting companies when planning the size and configuration of seabed transponder arrays. These might be for a one-off project, for example, precision spool piece metrology, or increasingly, a complete life-of-field network.
Technology Services has at its disposal a number of exclusive performance predication and simulation tools for USBL, LBL and INS. In the case of an LBL array planning, the team can use the process to calculate whether transponders deployed on the seabed will be able to ‘see’ each other and acoustically communicate. Using the software, the group is able to produce a number of different array plans until they arrive at a design that meets the positioning specification of your project.
Project simulation is a logical risk minimiser and at our sea trials centre in Plymouth, south-west England, Technology Services can demonstrate all types of USBL, LBL and INS operations with hardware deployed in the water. This ensures that potential problems or operational complications can be identified and overcome beforehand, and you’re able to familiarise yourself with the project set-up and system configuration prior to mobilisation.
Technology Services regularly run workshops to demonstrate the way in which a company might approach a particular project, highlighting the operational efficiency gains of our latest innovations. The workshops are free to attend and are run in-person internationally or online. Get in touch if you want to attend.
ROAM allows our engineers to take control and operate your Sonardyne system as though they were in the control room with you. Our experienced engineers can provide help with your calibrations, box-ins, system health checks and more at the click of a button. Find out more about ROAM.
Technology Services ensure that you get the very best performance from your Sonardyne acoustic positioning, communications and inertial navigation technology for oil, gas and renewables projects.
Make every minute collecting science data count with help and advice from Technology Services – either alongside your marine crew or remotely accessing and fine tuning your equipment settings.
• Qualified surveyors and engineers certified to work offshore
• Experts in complex LBL, INS and USBL operations
• Familiar with a wide range of offshore operations
• Works for, and reports to, you when on assignment
• Specialist knowledge of, and access to, Sonardyne products, systems and in-house tools
• Helps lower risk, vessel time and project costs
• Identifies opportunities to adopt new methodologies and innovations
• Access to specialist performance modelling tools
• Detailed advice and review of operational procedures
• Can include services such as simulation ahead of live operations
Your Sonardyne equipment has been engineered and built to perform reliably in extreme marine conditions. Our global service centres are there to make sure it stays that way, year after year. Your goals are to save time and money and accomplish precisely what you set out to do in your underwater operations. After all, that’s why you’ve invested in Sonardyne technology. But like any precision equipment, it should be regularly serviced and maintained to maximise performance.
Our global centres and factory-trained engineers offer cost-effective repair, preventative maintenance and specialist sensor calibration services. So whether you are about to start a project or return onshore, you can be assured your that not only have we built your equipment, we’re taking care of it too.
A popular service for transponders which are factory-fitted with a variety of calibrated environmental sensors. Yet through operational use, knocks in the field and marine growth, the quality of sensor readings can degrade. This is why we recommend they undergo regular checks to ensure they remain within specification.
We regularly improve product performance and functionality by upgrading transponder firmware, so we’ll check to make sure your equipment is operating on the latest version.
Pre-deployment checks also include tank testing, where a full acoustic check is carried out. Batteries are also checked to ensure that they will last the duration of your operation.
No one knows your transponders better than we do, so once they come out of the field and before you put them back on the shelves, we’ll perform a thorough diagnostic inspection. This includes checking and, if necessary, replacing the anodes, o-rings, transducers, guards and batteries.
Offshore, time is money so that’s not when you want to be discovering problems with equipment. A pre-deployment equipment check with us gives you peace of mind.
Time onboard a research vessel to carry out your science is hard to secure. So before your cruise season starts, why not book your Sonardyne kit in for an annual health check?
• Factory trained, experienced engineers
• Access to latest product updates
• Only genuine Sonardyne parts used
• Multiple generations of equipment cared for
• All work is warranted for 6 months
• Firmware: upgrading as required
• Anode replacement
• O-ring check and replacement
• Transducer inspection
• Transducer inspection
• Sensor and transducer guard check
Maximising performance and reducing risk is at the heart of our operator training programme. From in-person to remotely delivered, our courses are comprehensive and flexible. We believe product delivery is just the start of the story. Making sure that you get the very best out of your investment in our technology, once it is installed and commissioned, is a key part of our training service.
From scheduled courses run at our dedicated sea trials and training centre in the UK or regional offices, online training and free webinars, to bespoke training courses at your facilities, our training programme is expansive and ever evolving.
Our in-water training is delivered at our Sea Trials and Training Centre in Plymouth. Training here enables course delegates to better prepare for offshore operations and become confident in how to diagnose and overcome environmental issues.
At our regional training centres you will receive the same excellent instruction, delivered by the professional trainers from Plymouth utilising our very latest version of 6G+ Simulator to drive the product software and mimic real-life environmental conditions.
For our online training we use the same simulator, with remote access via video conferencing, to deliver the course in a modular format. In every online session you will have a trainer there with you, just like in the classroom.
The maximum course size is 6 people (4 for INS courses) for face-to-face training, thus ensuring that attendees get the ideal opportunity to develop their operational skills on our products with expert support from the Trainer. Online practical training is delivered on a 1-to-1 or 2-to-1 basis to give you maximum time on the system.
In an industry focused on safe, clean and efficient operations, it’s vital that those using Sonardyne technology are both confident and capable in its operation.
You’ve worked hard to secure funding to invest in Sonardyne technology to support your scientific research. Training with us helps ensure you can plan your project and unlock the full potential of our equipment.
• Captains, DPOs, BCOs, ETs, Party Chiefs
• Surveyors, engineers and technicians
• Equipment maintainers
• Rig managers, superintendents, ROV crew
• Military personnel
• Range of USBL courses including Mini-Ranger 2, Marksman LUSBL and many more as well as a 1 day technology taster session
• Range of LBL courses including Fusion 2, Fusion 1 to Fusion 2 Top-up and many more as well as connect metrology
• Range of INS, sonar and monitoring courses, from SPRINT, to PIES and Solstice and bespoke projects
Our service delivers your ocean data when you want where you want using an uncrewed surface vessel (USV) – a safe, clean and low-cost alternative to using personnel and vessels. Working directly with the world’s leading manufacturers of USVs, we’re able to offer you a complete end-to-end data harvesting service, one where we take care of vehicle selection, logistics, offshore operations and secure data delivery to where it’s needed, when it’s needed.
If you already own or operate a USV, we can enable it for seafloor sensor data harvesting, support you every step of the way, and train your team.
Mission requirements vary significantly but regularly involve wirelessly recovering stored data, confirming the position of Sonardyne-compatible sensors on the seafloor and downloading new mission parameters.
This requirement is met with our high telemetry rate seabed-to-surface communications capability – Wideband 2. Using Wideband 2, large volumes of data can be reliably recovered in a short amount of time, minimising the time a USV has to loiter. If required, harvested data can be immediately QC’d by engineers onshore before the USV is released to transit to its next data retrieval location. A high-speed downlink allows for new logging regimes to be adopted, eliminating the need to first recover the sensors.
We’re able to engineer bespoke USV payloads and sensor gondolas, integrating navigation, communication, sonar, Doppler and tracking systems as required. We’re also experts in vehicle power management and can create custom interface protocols to suit your mission needs. Sea trials, which can be conducted a location of your choosing or at our own facility in Plymouth, help reduce risk and refine procedures ahead of live operations.
Your data, together with a detailed operational report, is securely delivered post-mission. Multi-season, multi-year assignments can all be accommodated. Our service is flexible and entirely built around your needs.
Using a USV for data collection minimises risk to personnel, reducing costs and emissions – all key objectives for delivering sustainable projects in the oil and gas and renewables.
Contracting a Sonardyne-enabled USV to recover ocean data means your science no longer has to wait for precious research vessel time. We can gather and deliver your data whenever you need it.
• End-to-end data harvesting service bespoke to your needs
• You get to focus on the data, not the complex logistics to acquire it
• We select, configure and oversee the most appropriate USV for the mission
• Our highly technology and applications expert run your mission every step of the way
• Mini and Standard Ranger 2 for target tracking and comms
• Vigilant forward look sonar for obstacle avoidance
• SPRINT-Nav for GNSS denied environment
• Syrinx DVL for shallow water navigation
• Modem 6 for robust two-way communications
If you need to evaluate new technology at sea, rehearse maritime missions or conduct important demonstrations, our trials vessels and facilities based in Plymouth are at your service. We have decades of combined experience operating vessels and testing equipment in the waters around Plymouth and beyond. We have intimate knowledge of the rules and regulations affecting marine operations close to the local naval bases, and we know all the best places to test equipment. Whether you need shallow water, open water away from recreational craft to run autonomous surface vessels, or interesting wrecks to evaluate the capabilities of side-scan sonars, we know where to take you.
In support of our own activities within energy, defence and science have extensive experience integrating third-party surface and subsea technologies – and even land-based position reference systems. This has enabled us to develop trials plans and procedures to accommodate non-specific Sonardyne equipment, such as surface navigation equipment,
towfish, uncrewed surface vehicles and seafloor sensors.
We can tailor your charter to your precise needs, assist with planning, coordinate the logistics and manage your safety.
Mobilising equipment and personnel to undertake operations on the water is expensive, time consuming and not without risk. That’s why when you charter one of our Plymouth-based survey vessels or facilities, you get more than just a boat or floating classroom. You get the knowledge and experience of our marine engineers and qualified local skippers who are fully committed to ensuring your charter with us is a complete success and meets all of your objectives.
Trying out new equipment, rehearsing new operational procedures and getting your team comfortable with the technology being used, helps identify problems and reduce risk before heading offshore to doing it for real.
You’ve worked hard to secure research vessel time so a vessel charter with us ahead of your cruise can simulate different environments, data logging regimes and harvesting methods.
• Coded for operations out to 60 miles offshore
• Can accommodate up to 12 personnel
• 500 kg WWL deck crane for equipment deployment
• Spacious cabin and open back deck
• Port and starboard inboard moonpools
• Coded for operations out to 60 miles offshore
• Can accommodate up to 12 personnel
• Four moonpools; various sizes
• Survey equipment mounting brackets on bow
• On-board WiFi/ 4G connectivity/ UPS
Our hydrostatic testing facility is the most reliable and cost-effective way to validate the integrity of subsea equipment in ultra-deepwater operating environments. Our hydrostatic pressure chamber, one of the largest of its type in UK, is available to put your underwater products and systems to the ultimate test – over 6,000 metres water depth infact. It’s helped test everything from sports cameras to industrial sensors, and it can be hired to help you too.
Test against your industry standards
With an internal diameter of 0.76 m and an internal height of 2 m, the chamber can accommodate large single instruments or multiples of smaller instruments at the same time. Equipment under test can be interfaced via six breakout ports which can be adapted to suit client specific connectors, allowing full communications with the equipment whilst under pressure. The chamber is filled with tap water mixed with a corrosion inhibitor.
The control system for the chamber can be programmed to meet the requirements of specific industry standards including pressure cycling, ramping and holding. Ramp rates of up to 50 bar/min can be programmed and pressure inside the chamber logged. A dedicated engineer supervises all testing activities and can provide you with a full report which includes applied pressure graphs, test certificates and photographic records.
Equipment can be easily unloaded by forklift and manoeuvred into position by a motorised, remotely controlled overhead crane rated to 2.5 tonnes. Guest Wi-Fi access is available, along with technical advice from Sonardyne’s highly experienced electro-mechanical design engineers if required.
Hydrostatic testing is the most reliable and cost-effective way to validate the integrity of subsea equipment before it is deployed in the field where failure has significant implications.
We can test your science equipment to 6,300 m (20,670 feet, 630 bar) to simulate exploring and gathering data from some of the deepest places on the planet.
• Fixed priced per day
• Half day minimum hire
• Exclusive use of the facility during your hire period
• Dedicated engineer to run your test
• Access to our guest facilities; including free Wi-Fi
• Expert, friendly advice on hand
• 6,300 max simulated depth (630 bar, 9,137 psi)
• 168 hours dwell time
• Custom connectors can be used via 100mm breakthroughs
• Automatic ramp and hold with 40 separate profile operations
• Pressurisation / de-pressurisation control rates of 10 to 50 bar/min
