Capture every feature and every detail in ultra-high resolution.

Key benefits

• Mission ready; designed to support search, classify and map (SCM) and hydrographic operations
• Small and compact arrays; optimised for low-logistic AUVs and towed bodies
• Survey more ground in a single pass; 200 m-wide swath ensures high coverage rates
• Along track resolution of 0.15°; best in class delivering maximum detection rates
• Collocated side scan image and bathy improves your situational awareness
• Consumes only 18 W power: budget friendly and increases your AUV’s endurance
• Depth rated to 300 or 600 m

Solstice offers enhanced underwater detection capabilities for various missions, including mine countermeasures, archaeological, search, and salvage operations. The system provides high-performance coverage with large 200m swaths on each side, enabling efficient site characterisation without sacrificing detail. Its class-leading imagery allows you to make confident classification decisions more quickly, with the added versatility of deployment on both autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and towfish platforms. By improving probability of detection and decreasing false alarms, Solstice significantly increases the overall efficiency and reliability of underwater exploration and survey missions. It is suitable for:

• Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV)
• Site survey and characterisation
• Mine countermeasures (MCM)
• Remotely operated vehicles (ROV)
• Delivering pixel perfect imaging

Exceptional high-contrast seafloor imagery across diverse water depths

How it works

Solstice, designed by Wavefront Systems and commercialised by Sonardyne, is a world-leading side scan sonar for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and towed bodies. Its advanced technology delivers exceptional seafloor imagery through multiple aperture arrays with 32 multibeam elements, enabling superior signal-to-noise ratio performance and stunning imagery at extended ranges. The sonar’s unique back-projection beam-forming technique ensures focused imaging for every pixel, eliminating distortions caused by platform motion and guaranteeing 100% ground coverage across diverse water depths.

Designed for a wide range of marine missions including hydrographic, archaeological, search, salvage, and mine countermeasure operations, Solstice stands out through its innovative features. Its real-time array calibration dynamically recalibrates hydrophone elements multiple times per second, compensating for dynamic strains and maintaining linear element alignment. The system produces high-contrast imagery in environments ranging from 600-metre depths to very shallow littoral waters, utilising a specialised array technology that provides wide swath coverage with exceptional shadow contrast.

Using a hammer to crack a nut? Try using a USV instead

USVs are no longer new. They’ve been used in defence for some time now, for a range of tasks from surveillance to mine counter measures. USVs are being used to survey coastal and offshore waters in hydrographic surveys, for ocean science and in oil and gas

The challenge

Crewed vessels used in offshore construction projects are costly and can even hinder progress. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Other sectors that operate in the marine space are now finding new, smaller, smarter, cleaner tools. They’ve been using uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), so the big, crewed vessels can stick to the jobs they’re good at.

So why are we not using them heavily in offshore construction?

One reason may be because offshore construction was in fact an early adopter. But, at the time, there were only a handful of commercial USV operators whose vehicles were just too big for what was needed, making them unwieldy to deploy from an offshore vessel, defeating the point of the exercise.

Another may be the worry of the complexity involved in offshore construction. Creating complex structures on shore is one thing. Creating them under metres of salt water is entirely another.

Then there is the issue of communication and control over the construction process. Making sure each step is taken exactly as planned is fundamental to the overall success of a construction project.

The solution

USV technology has come a long way since their inception. They’ve been used in defence for some time now, for a range of tasks from surveillance to mine countermeasures. USVs are being used to survey coastal and offshore waters in hydrographic surveys, for ocean science and in oil and gas. They’re being used to go out and gather data, either as a platform for oceanographic instruments or by carrying acoustic communications systems to harvest data from sensors deployed at the seabed. You could think of them being like a remote-controlled Dunker.

USVs are now part of the toolbox across a number of sectors and the levels of sophistication and capability are increasing. Worries about lack of control, the complexity of operations or large clunky kit that isn’t up to the delicate tasks required in offshore construction are today unfounded.

In offshore renewables and oil and gas USVs are being used as part of site and seismic surveys, and then through field life, for inspection operations. They’re also being used for maintenance and repair, by acting as deployment platforms for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and even aerial drones (UAVs).

The results

Today there’s a wide choice of USVs to choose from. From one-man portable USVs to full sized vessels, and on to fully electric coastal systems and hybrid long-range ocean-going vehicles that can operate for weeks on end. The range of commercial models has also grown. You can buy them outright or purchase a data service where you just order the end result – be it data or an inspection campaign.

USVs can now play a central role in construction operations. They can streamline operations and reduce risk for manned offshore construction teams. When deployed they reduce reliance on heavier, costlier tools and free-up crewed assets to be used on elements of a project where they’ll bring more value.

Extending the limits of autonomous system

Sending autonomous and unmanned underwater vehicles (AUV/UUV) out on missions that will last for days or weeks, unaided by vessels or any other supporting offshore infrastructure is a major goal for the ocean science, offshore energy and defence sectors.

The challenge

Improving the endurance and navigational precision of underwater autonomous systems, while also reducing costs, could provide disruptive capability in the subsea monitoring and inspection space. All three are goals in a two-year collaborative project we are leading.

If you can do this you remove the need for a surface vessel. Risk to personnel and mission costs are reduced along with the environmental footprint generated by manned surface vessels. You are able to survey more seabed for longer and with fewer or even no people offshore.

Current constraints on AUV or UUV operations, such as limited power capacity and navigational accuracy degradation over long deployments, means that the capabilities of these systems are not quite able to meet mission requirements on their own.

The solution

We’re leading a two year, £1.4 million project, with partners the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) and L3Harris ASV, to change all that. We aim to develop new positioning technologies that will extend the limits of AUVs and UUVs.

The project – Precise Positioning for Persistent AUVs, or P3AUV for short – is supported by funding through Innovate UK’s research and development competition for robotics and artificial intelligence in extreme and challenging environments.

So, what’s involved? In short, we’re developing ways to provide greater positioning accuracy for long-endurance operations in deep water. At the same time, we’re reducing power requirements for AUVs and UUV. We’ll also be increasing the use of autonomy to make Long BaseLine (LBL) positioning transponder box-in faster and easier, with onboard data processing and calibration.

This is all being done through work in three key and complementary areas: improved lower power navigational accuracy over long distances for AUV/UUVs; autonomous transponder box-in with an unmanned vessel; and improved positioning accuracy during vehicle descent/ascent in the water column.

Central to this work is the vehicle’s acoustic and inertial navigation system (INS). This is because low power sensors have much lower navigation accuracy meaning they often have to surface to correct positioning error with a GPS fix. However, by integrating low and high-power sensors to work together, the best of both worlds – high performance and much lower power consumption – can be achieved.

As an example, the NOC’s Autosub Long Range (ALR) currently uses a low-power microelectronic mechanical system (MEMS) supported by separate Doppler velocity log (DVL) and ADCP input to calculate how far it has travelled on missions. These missions can be several months long. To increase the ALR’s positioning accuracy over longer distances, we’re using our SPRINT-Nav, alongside MEMS technology to work towards high-precision solutions that save space and power.

The project also involves improving positioning accuracy when subsea vehicles transition through the water column. This is a notoriously difficult area for AUV deployments, because it relies on the Doppler velocity log (DVL) being able to ‘lock’ on to the seafloor (bottom lock), so that vehicle XYZ velocities can be calculated, supported by pressure data.

However, DVLs are range limited, so there is often a period where the DVL is out of range. When there are thousands of metres of water between the surface and the seabed, this can introduce significant positioning uncertainty. This problem is solved by using the acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) capability in our SPRINT-Nav INS instrument (looking down) and a second Syrinx DVL (looking up). We can then build up a layer by layer profile of the water column velocities that can be used as tracking layers.

The objective is to reduce positioning errors significantly during both the dive and surfacing phases of an operation. This does depend on the variability of the current regime in any given area, but we’re putting this to the test throughout the P3AUV project.

The data collected during the descent and surfacing phases can be processed to provide a full ocean depth current profile – collection of which is required  for many offshore energy projects. It can also be valuable for ocean research.

At the heart of this capability is our class-leading SPRINT-Nav instrument, which combines our SPRINT INS, Syrinx DVL and a high-accuracy pressure sensor in a single housing. These instruments are tightly integrated, enabling the SPRINT-Nav to use individual beam level measurements from our Syrinx DVL. This makes it a much more robust and reliable system than a separate DVL, which calculates velocity from all the beams.

Additionally, we’re implementing systems to box-in our trusted Compatt seafloor positioning transponders with a USV to make LBL operations faster and easier.

The goal is to enable full ocean depth, 1 m accuracy wide-area seabed mapping, using the L3Harris ASV’s C-Worker USV, to precisely position them (box them in). These Compatts could then be used in combination with SPRINT-Nav to calculate a Sparse Long BaseLine (Sparse LBL) solution.

Using autonomous calibration techniques will remove the need for a manned vessel to do this, providing a dramatic cost saving over current ‘state-of-the-art’ AUV operations, as well as any other operations where an LBL positioning system is needed.

To put this into perspective, an offshore support or research vessel will typically burn some 3,000 tonnes of fuel annually and generate about 10,000 tonnes (equivalent) of greenhouse gases. The environmental footprint of an independent ASV or AUV is, by comparison, negligible.

The reduction of manned vessel operations, as well as reducing deployment/recovery of vehicles over-the-side of such vessels, will reduce risk in offshore survey operations. Furthermore, the ability to mobilise this capability at short notice, without the high cost of mobilising a ship, could generate a new service industry model.

The results

Combining all of these capabilities will bring about a step-change in AUV operations, providing a disruptive capability in the subsea monitoring and inspection space. Indeed, reducing the cost and improving the navigation precision of autonomous ocean research in remote areas could bring a disruptive capability to a wide variety of applications.

Sustained ocean observation without the need for ship support is coming under increasing focus from the research community, especially in ice-covered polar areas. Long-duration navigational capability is also a key enabler for persistent covert surveillance operations in the defence sector, as well as emerging applications, including resident seabed-based systems, deep sea mining, aquaculture and UXO surveys for renewable installations.

There are also emerging requirements to monitor decommissioned offshore infrastructure ‘in perpetuity’, all of which will generate a market for this rapid and efficient mode of seabed navigation. As the only company that produces a complete hybrid acoustic navigation solution for AUVs, we are uniquely placed to work with our partners L3Harris ASV and NOC to produce a game-changing capability through the P3AUV project.

Over-the-horizon uncrewed ocean data collection

Seabed monitoring over large areas has entered the age of autonomy, thanks to a combination of our long-endurance, wireless Fetch seabed sensors and a wide choice of uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) able to wirelessly collect their data. Read how Shell is making use of both for ocean data collection.

The challenge

A/S Norske Shell is running a long-term seabed monitoring campaign over the giant Ormen Lange gas field, 120 km offshore Norway, using an array of our Fetch pressure monitoring transponders (PMTs) in 800 – 1,100 m water depth at the field.

Fetch PMTs accurately collect pressure, temperature and inclination data at the seafloor, at pre-programmed intervals. Using this data, any vertical displacement of the seabed can be calculated. The data will help Norske Shell to proactively inform its reservoir management strategy. Each incorporates a high-speed acoustic modem, allowing stored data to be extracted at any time, wirelessly through the water, on demand.

During previous seabed monitoring campaigns, Norske Shell used a vessel of opportunity to travel out to the field to harvest the data using wireless acoustic communications. However, regularly visiting the sensors to gather the information they contain comes with costs, emissions and puts employees in potential harm’s way offshore.

The solution

We provided a full seabed to shore data collection service. Using a USV, controlled remotely, over the horizon, we visited the site and collected all the Fetch PMT data, without a single person having to travel offshore or from their home office.

The USV, an XOCEAN XO-450, was “posted” via cargo ship to Norway for the project and was launched by local marine operations service provider SafePath AS. The USV, piloted by XOCEAN staff in Ireland, then carried out the full mission, covering 300 km from Kristiansund and back, over just three days.

Throughout the mission, all those involved in the project, including Sonardyne’s remote operations specialists in the UK, XOCEAN’s pilots and Shell’s geophysicists in Norway and the US, remained working from their home offices where they were able to quality check and then receive the data, live.

The results

One of the largest data harvesting missions using a USV, to date, achieved safely, quickly and with significantly lower emissions and costs than could otherwise be achieved. An estimated 5.4 tonnes less CO2 per day was emitted compared with a manned vessel had been used. XOCEAN offset any remaining emissions created by its vessel.

As well as minimizing risk to personnel, reducing costs and emissions, using a USV for data collection also meant the time download the data was halved, thanks to the maneuverability and low hull and electric propulsion noise of the USV.

Planning your next ocean data collection mission? Read our white paper to find out how to move to uncrewed.

Or let us handle your next ocean data collection mission with our USV Data Harvesting Service.

Read more about why Sonardyne instruments were chosen for Ormen Lange here.

Dude, where's my ocean robot?

Autonomous naval robots are operating for longer and travelling further. Enabling them to know where they are underpins every mission so we have been investing in navigation technology that improves accuracy over time and distance.

The challenge

Any submariner will tell you that navigating underwater is no easy task. That’s because links to the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) are unreliable. Instead, submariners tend to make do with other sensors. SPRINT-Nav X, is our most accurate system yet, as the UK’s national Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) would discover.

It’s a different story for autonomous craft and a lot harder to navigate without a crew. That’s why almost all uncrewed operations at sea today require access to a reliable GNSS signal. Without it, vehicles are literally lost at sea.

Our peer adversaries are investing to develop tools that block our access to GNSS, ensuring they can operate, while we’re left in the dark. It’s not just deliberate signal jamming or degradation of performance – known as spoofing – that can interrupt connections with GNSS. Loss of satellite-based timing and navigation signals needed for positioning occurs where GPS or GNSS receivers may not have a clear line of sight with the sky. This frequently affects ports and harbours situated close to tall structures or even close to cliffs and inside fjords.

We figured there had to be another way to keep track of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs)  in challenging underwater environments. So, Sonardyne entered Phase one of the Autonomy in Challenging Environments competition run by DASA on behalf of Dstl.

The solution

We started out with the SPRINT-Nav, which is already the world’s highest performing all-in-one hybrid navigator for uncrewed vehicles, to create the hybrid navigation system, SPRINT-Nav X. This is our highest-grade SPRINT-Nav in the SPRINT-Nav family to date.

We innovated to combine four instruments in a single subsea pressure house: an attitude-heading and reference system (AHRS), a depth sensor, a Doppler velocity log (DVL) and an inertial navigation system (INS). All onboard sensors were optimally integrated to provide seamless operation and unprecedented levels of performance when compared with standalone instruments.

SPRINT-Nav also integrates individual DVL beam velocities thus providing sub millimetre level relative accuracy and making SPRINT-Nav robust over structures and rugged terrain.

However, SPRINT-Nav X delivers more certainty and higher accuracy while dead-reckoning and still maintaining the same form factor and weight as the other systems in the family. This level of performance opens the door to improved capabilities while still using commercial-off-the-shelf instruments.

Would this level of performance be sufficient to replace GNSS positioning?

DASA autonomy in challenging environments

Working with a 12 m-long SEA-KIT X class unmanned surface vehicle (USV), Sonardyne tested and validated SPRINT-Nav. How could we determine if it could be used instead of GNSS? We integrated with a SEA-KIT X and tested it against local GNSS for real-time kinematic (RTK) 50 mm accuracy positioning.

The SEA-KIT is a 10,000 nautical mile-range vessel able to carry up to 2.5 tonnes of payload, deploy and recover AUVs and ROVs. This capability, and flexibility, means it is well suited to support naval missions including intelligence gathering, hydrographic surveying and as a communications gateway.

We learned that SPRINT-Nav can provide a high integrity, continuously available navigation solution for a USV, like SEA-KIT X, operating in littoral zones in water depths up to 150 m.

The results

In 2020, during the exercise the team ran several missions, the longest of these was a 90 km mission that lasted over 13 hours. The mission was conducted in tough conditions with a swell of 2m and approximately 20 degrees of roll in places. The altitude of the USV was anywhere between 0.5 to 70 m from the seafloor with deep and shallow gradients and difficult terrain that included mud, rock, sand and shingle.

The USV moved predictably out to sea on a long straight line and then returned to conduct a traditional lawnmower survey pattern typically used in mine countermeasures (MCM). The drift between the estimated SPRINT-Nav position and the actual GNSS RTK signal never exceeded the 0.01% error relative to distance travelled within the specification, proving that AUVs and ROVs can find their way, with SPRINT-NAv technology. No other COTS system or product matches this performance.

Remote advances; operational advantages

A joint operation between Sonardyne and Subsea 7 has helped to de-risk technology adoption on BP’s Mad Dog Phase 2 development by allowing 24-hour remote access to offshore survey systems for onshore staff, de-risking the use of new technology, reducing project overheads, and paving the way for new ways of working in the future.

The challenge

There’s more desire than ever to be smarter and more efficient, to reduce vessel days, improve safety performance and lessen environmental footprints – all without losing performance, accuracy, reliability or downtime. Sonardyne has been working with Subsea 7 on reducing hardware requirements and vessel time in survey operations, including through the adoption of sparse Long BaseLine (LBL) navigation.

The latest step-change has been through the roll-out of Sonardyne’s Fusion 2 software, alongside the adaptation of new embedded calibration routines. By combining inertial navigation (INS) and LBL into a single system, Fusion 2 took away much of the interface complexity that had been involved in sparse LBL operations (using separate INS and LBL systems), reduced hardware overheads, and enabled whole work flows to be removed, through the ability to perform real-time simultaneous location and mapping (SLAM) calibration of sparse arrays without any need for post-processing.

The solution

During construction operations, at BP’s Mad Dog Phase 2 development in the deep water Gulf of Mexico, mobilising Fusion 2 trained surveyors to the right place at the right time had posed a challenge, due to global travel and working restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. To ensure continuity of operations across multiple vessels and offshore campaigns, Sonardyne’s Zoom and Microsoft Teams-based remote training was utilised to convert Fusion 1 trained surveyors to Fusion 2, which can be done in just one day or tailored to requirements.

In a first for both companies, Sonardyne then supplied its new Remote Operations Access Module (ROAM) giving its survey experts 24-hour remote access to Subsea 7’s onboard Sonardyne systems. ROAM provides an interface between the vessel’s Fusion 2 systems and communications systems (i.e. satellite or 4G) so that a Sonardyne surveyor can securely dial in, using a secure Portal and Virtual Network Computing (VNC) connection to support operations as if he or she were on board.

In this first project using ROAM, Sonardyne Surveyors in the UK were able to update firmware and software and provide a planned 24/7 operational service during SLAM calibration operations.

The combination of remote training and virtual support de-risked the continued adoption of Fusion 2, and Sonardyne’s remote service provided the assurance to continue with Fusion 2 and sparse LBL operations, avoiding the need to revert to full LBL and the extra equipment and inefficiencies that would bring. The ROAM system was supported by Subsea 7 survey personnel based in Aberdeen and Houston who worked to ensure efficient onboard integration.

Of course, it’s a learning process, part of which is being able to replicate the experience of being on board – where it’s easier for an experienced surveyor to see immediately what equipment there is and how it can be best deployed. This brings challenges – such as bringing on new surveyors and making sure they get the experience they need. “These are challenges that need to be and will be addressed as we move to a more digitally enabled future where remote operation become more the norm,” says Moller, “or even where operations are conducted using unmanned surface vessels.

Fusion 2 is a step towards this and there are more ways that, through ROAM, Sonardyne can help offshore clients directly – remotely – on planned operations. For example, rather than having a VNC connection, lower bandwidth connections could be used via the ROAM interface to a slave system onshore and having a digital twin running onshore where you can change settings, send these configurations offshore and then monitor operations; this is all on the Fusion 2 development roadmap.”

The results

Philip Banks, Survey Operations Manager for Global Projects at Subsea 7 added, “The mitigation of the risks for new technologies is a key gate to pass through. This allowed us to develop a roadmap to demonstrate the level of development or support required for its use, including management of any change. “Mad Dog 2 installation activities will span three years with managing changes in vessels and operational plans. The adaptation and evolution of Fusion 2 into both a cost saving and now remote support and operations platform has been a key driver in classifying it as a field-proven system for the wider business.”

L3Harris takes USBL-aided AUV navigation to the next level

Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) aided navigation helps autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) operators to ensure accurate mission outcomes. That’s why an L3Harris Technologies AUV Systems’ customer chose our Mini-Ranger 2 USBL system and AvTrak 6 for their Iver3 AUV. Read how AUV Systems decided to take the integration, with a third-party inertial navigation system (INS), to a deeper level.

The challenge

AUVs are playing an ever-greater role in the naval warfare playbook. Their ease of mobilisation is making them a go-to technology across survey, security and mine countermeasures. But navies still want accurate positioning and look to USBL-aided navigation to support their AUV and unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) operations.

Using USBL position aiding to support underwater vehicle inertial navigation is key way to underpin accurate vehicle operations, reduce errors margins and improve efficiency. Regular, accurate position updates from a USBL system ensure the vehicle’s INS maintains accuracy, which can be critical in challenging environments.

This is just what a customer of L3Harris wanted. The customer chose our Mini-Ranger 2 USBL positioning system to aid the third-party INS on their L3Harris Iver3 AUV. The customer had already used Mini-Ranger 2 with another UUV and had been impressed with its performance and ease of use.

The solution

Mini-Ranger 2 is the ideal USBL system for coastal operations, supporting high-elevation tracking of up to 10 targets simultaneously down to 995 m water depth (extendable to 4,000 m), as well as data harvesting. It offers performance without the cost and complexity of a deepwater USBL system. To provide INS aiding on their Iver3, L3Harris’ customer chose to integrate our AvTrak 6 OEM Nano into their Iver3.

AvTrak 6 OEM Nano is the smallest variant of our AvTrak transceiver, designed for use on small underwater vehicles. It combines the functions of a transponder, transceiver and telemetry link, enabling communications, tracking and USBL aiding for subsea robotics. It’s also based on our 6G hardware platform, which means it’s interoperable with all our USBL, LBL and INS systems. This provides flexibility, but also performance enhancement, for example when combined with a Sonardyne INS.

USBL-aided navigation with a third-party INS – not a problem

Although L3Harris AUV Systems was only tasked with integrating the AvTrak 6 OEM, it decided to go a few steps further, making sure it spoke the right language as the third-party INS. Specifically, that meant making sure the AvTrak 6 OEM Nano would be able to send out a PSIMSSB telegram, instead of our proprietary SPOS, to the vehicle’s INS. Our engineers here at Sonardyne were able to support this change, simplifying the integration for the L3Harris AUV Systems team.

AvTrak 6 OEM Nano is designed with no housings, so that it’s easy to install for vehicle integrators. However, our engineers also provided the AvTrak 6 transducer on a special Iver3 mounting post design, so it was easy to plug and play into the Iver3. This is now available for the Iver3 vehicles going forward, as standard.

The results

Following integration, L3Harris AUV Systems carried out successful performance testing, validating the ability of the Mini-Ranger 2 to aid the third-party INS via our AvTrak 6 OEM Nano. The team at AUV Systems was also impressed with our Ranger 2 software, allowing them to easily visualise where the Iver3 was subsea both relative to the vessel and its absolute positioning.

“The support from Sonardyne’s engineering team, applications group and the Sonardyne Inc. team has been a great bonus to this project for us and our client. Because of this support, we were able to go ahead and perform a full integration and validate the performance, which more than met our expectations. Aiding an AUV INS with a USBL is now a real customer requirement and through Sonardyne we’re able to offer this on our Iver3 vehicles.” – Morgan Eash, Project and Applications Engineering Manager – L3Harris AUV Systems.

Deeper integration, further improving performance

What’s more, L3Harris is now also exploring deeper integration to allow the vehicle to utilise the AvTrak 6’s diagnostics capability. By providing the vehicle with information of the acoustic environment the vehicle’s autonomy could make decisions to adjust the AvTrak 6 OEM Nano’s power and gain settings to improve acoustics without a human in the loop.

Using Mini-Ranger 2’s optional Robotics Pack software, the customer also has the option to track up to 10 vehicles on one common interrogate, providing absolute position of all ten vehicles and the surface vessel to each vehicle.  This allows for better situational awareness for each vehicle enabling swarms.

Get in touch if you would like to know how will can support your AUV and UUV operations.

Long-endurance AUV development with shallow water simplicity

Developing large, deepwater and long-endurance autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) isn’t a challenge for the feint hearted. But with the right approach to USBL-inertial systems, it’s a task that can be made simpler, without having to dive straight in at the deep end.

The challenge

That’s the approach that Anduril Industries has taken for its large displacement unmanned underwater vehicle (LD-UUV) vehicle, the DIVE-LD. It’s a rapid development programme that has included support from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and technology partnerships with organizations including the Center for Marine Autonomy and Robotics at Virginia Tech.

Deepwater capability, shallow-water USBL-inertial test bed

The DIVE-LD is targeting littoral and deepwater survey, inspection and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). To meet these tasks, the 1.2 m-diameter, 5.8 m-long AUV has been designed to operate in down to 6,000 m water depth, traveling at 2-8 knots and covering, in a single mission, nearly 600 km.

To hone the vehicle’s systems, Anduril wanted to be able to conduct testing in its home waters. They already have one of our Ranger 2 Gyro USBL (Ultra-Short BaseLine) systems for full ocean depth positioning on vessels of opportunity. But they wanted something for positioning in just 6 – 20 m water depth that they could quickly set up on small coastal boats or even RHIBs.

The solution

The company, which recently acquired Quincy, Massachusetts-based underwater robotics innovator Dive Technologies, chose our Micro-Ranger 2 USBL system.

It’s a perfect fit. Micro-Ranger 2 is portable; everything you need comes in one, medium-sized IP67-rated ruggedised case, complete with its own 10-hour rechargable power supply. It’s also easy to set up and use from any waterside location, with Wi-Fi and ethernet connection to your laptop. It is able to track up to 10 targets out to 995 m range, including in shallow waters, thanks to our Wideband digital signal architecture. It’s also available with an integrator kit for those wanting to both track and communicate with targets, whether that’s divers, ROVs or even large displacement AUVs!

For Anduril, it ticked all the boxes for helping develop their navigation techniques and to implement USBL aiding while testing in areas with less than 20 m total water depth.

Combining USBL-inertial systems

What’s more, the DIVE-LD already has our highest grade hybrid acoustic-inertial instrument, SPRINT-Nav X, and our AvTrak 6 combined transponder, transceiver and telemetry instrument onboard. This allowed for seamless integration with Micro-Ranger 2, thanks to them all being built on our common hardware platform, 6G. All equipment with 6G hardware talks the same language. This gives the user added flexibility of working with various transponders, or in this case topsides, to get the job done.

The results

Tim Raymond, founding engineer at Dive Technologies and now Chief Engineer at Anduril, says, “Micro-Ranger 2 allows us to deploy on almost any vessel while performing shallow water AUV testing. At the same time, it’s still capable of providing quality USBL positional aiding to the AUV, despite the small form factor and challenging acoustic environment.

“This system has already allowed us to develop navigation techniques and implement USBL aiding while testing in areas with less than 20 m total water depth, giving us high confidence in the capabilities of our DIVE-LD’s onboard software and aiding systems, prior to deployment in more austere environments where USBL aiding is critical for AUV navigation.

“The ability to rapidly deploy on almost any vessel and test integration and implementation of USBL aiding systems, without the overhead of a large host vessel and deployment into deep water, allowed us to develop USBL aiding capabilities for the DIVE-LD on an extremely tight schedule and with very low cost to test and validate.”

Are you developing an AUV or UUV? Get in touch to find out how we can support your development programme, no matter how shallow or deep you want to go.

Greater efficiency, lower overheads, with underwater autonomy in deepwater seismic

Shell Brasil, in partnership with Petrobras, Sonardyne and Brazilian research institute SENAI CIMATEC are working together to bring a step-change to 4D seismic data gathering in Brazil’s deepwater pre-salt region.

Discover how we’re collaborating to develop innovative autonomous technology that will make monitoring these challenging deepwater fields more efficient, with fewer people and lower environmental footprint.

Scroll down to read this case study in Portuguese.

The challenge

Seismic data is an essential part of offshore field development activity, especially to support proactive reservoir management and production optimisation. Techniques for gathering this data have evolved dramatically over the decades; from the use of marine streamers for large exploration seismic campaigns to the now routine use of remote operated vehicles (ROV) to deploy ocean bottom nodes (OBN) for high-resolution imaging of pre-salt reservoirs.

Yet, gathering seismic data for pre-salt reservoir imaging remains intensive work. It involves large, costly and carbon-emitting crewed vessels for deployment and recovery of, typically, thousands of nodes. As an example, for a 10-month campaign over one of Brazil’s giant pre-salt fields, a node handling vessel could emit close to 10,000 tons of CO₂. Costly and complex operations can mean a reduction in frequency of surveys, including of those done to gather what’s called time lapse or 4D seismic data, which is required to monitor the pre-salt reservoirs.

Shell and Petrobras came to us believing that there could be a lower-cost, more sustainable, way of acquiring 4D seismic data, as well as other parameters such as seafloor subsidence, to help better monitor reservoirs. They also saw this could be done with a lower environmental footprint and while keeping more people safe.

The solution

Together, Shell Brasil, Petrobras, and Sonardyne joined forces with SENAI CIMATEC to develop an advanced seismic data acquisition system under a Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) promoted research and development project.

At its core is an On-Demand Ocean Bottom Node, or OD OBN. This semi-permanent seabed system is used for the acquisition of high resolution seismic and seafloor subsidence data.

Like conventional seabed nodes (OBN), each OD OBN contains three geophones and one hydrophone, a data recording system, batteries and a highly accurate clock. The sensors detect pressure waves emitted by an airgun source, usually towed by a ship, as they are reflected upwards towards the seabed from the underlying layers of rock surrounding the reservoir.

Unlike conventional nodes, these OD OBNs remain on the seabed, down to 3,000 m, gathering seismic data for up to five years. This significantly reduces the cost of repeated ocean bottom seismic campaigns, as the node handling vessel is removed from the operations. It also reduces the impact on the environment and marine ecosystems.

The activation of the nodes, verification of subsidence event alarms, calibration of internal clocks and harvesting of seismic data will be performed using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) called Flatfish developed, in a closely interlinked ANP project, by partners Shell Brasil, Petrobras, SENAI CIMATEC and Saipem.

Flatfish will find each node using Sonardyne’s 6th generation (6G) of acoustic positioning systems. Our acoustics will also support data telemetry with the nodes, for health checks, configuration and acoustic time synchronization. The Flatfish will then hover above each node, in turn. Using an extremely high bandwidth and energy efficient laser-based variant of Sonardyne´s BlueComm optical communications device, it will wirelessly harvest many gigabytes of seismic data in just a few minutes.

This variant uses two rapidly modulated lasers to produce simultaneous bi-directional communications over more than five meters range. It is optimised for peak data transfer performance, with speeds of over 600 megabits per second demonstrated. This makes it excellent for harvesting large amounts of data from seabed nodes.

“Using OD OBN in combination with Flatfish, a 4D seismic campaign in the pre-salt may be executed in a simpler manner, with lower operational cost, lower risk of human exposure and lower environmental impact,” says Jorge Lopez, Manager of Subsurface Technology at Shell Brasil. “On top of this, the nodes also measure seafloor deformation and can continuously monitor for possible subsidence events that may occur during the production of the field.”

The results

In the first phase of the OD OBN project, eight fully functional prototype nodes were built. These comprised of two different concept types and were designed and built by SENAI CIMATEC in Salvador, Bahia together with Sonardyne Brasil.

In 2021, initial tests of seismic data recording were conducted at the Sapinhoá pre-salt field offshore Brazil and interoperability tests between the nodes and the Flatfish AUV were performed in shallow water in Trieste, Italy.

A very intensive laboratory and offshore testing and demonstration program is being conducted over the next 18 months to ensure the OD OBN system meets its operational requirements. This program will increase the maturity of the solution, with tests in pre-salt fields for recording seismic data with the OD OBN prototypes and the communication and data harvesting AUV missions.

In the next phase of the project, starting later in 2022, Shell and Petrobras will sign a new agreement to manufacture 600 nodes and deploy them for three years of reservoir monitoring in a Brazilian pre-salt field.

Maior eficiência, baixo custo de operação, para sísmica em águas profundas através de autonomia submarina

A Shell Brasil, em parceria com a Petrobras, a Sonardyne e o instituto de pesquisa brasileiro SENAI CIMATEC estão trabalhando juntos para trazer uma mudança radical na coleta de dados sísmicos 4D na região do pré-sal em águas profundas do Brasil.

Descubra como estamos colaborando para desenvolver tecnologia autônoma inovadora que tornará o monitoramento desses desafiadores campos em águas profundas mais eficiente, com menos pessoas e menor impacto ambiental.

O desafio

Os dados sísmicos são uma parte essencial da atividade de desenvolvimento de campos offshore, especialmente para apoiar o gerenciamento proativo de reservatórios e a otimização da produção. As técnicas para coletar esses dados evoluíram dramaticamente ao longo das décadas; desde o uso de streamers marinhos para grandes campanhas sísmicas de exploração até o uso rotineiro de veículos operados remotamente (ROV) para implantar nós de fundo oceânico (OBN) para imagens de alta resolução de reservatórios do pré-sal.

No entanto, a coleta de dados sísmicos para imagens de reservatórios do pré-sal continua sendo um trabalho intensivo. Envolve embarcações tripuladas grandes, caras e emissoras de carbono para implantação e recuperação de, normalmente, milhares de nós. Como exemplo, para uma campanha de 10 meses em um dos campos gigantes do pré-sal brasileiro, uma embarcação de manuseio de nós pode emitir cerca de 10.000 toneladas de CO₂. Operações caras e complexas podem reduzir a frequência de levantamentos, inclusive daqueles feitos para coletar o lapso temporal que é chamado de  dados sísmicos 4D, necessários para monitorar os reservatórios do pré-sal.

A Shell e a Petrobras nos procuraram acreditando que poderia haver uma forma mais barata e sustentável de adquirir dados sísmicos 4D, além de outros parâmetros, como subsidência do fundo do mar, para ajudar a monitorar melhor os reservatórios. Eles também viram que isso poderia ser feito com um impacto ambiental menor e mantendo mais pessoas seguras.

A solução

Juntos, Shell Brasil, Petrobras e Sonardyne uniram forças com o SENAI CIMATEC para desenvolver um sistema avançado de aquisição de dados sísmicos em um projeto de pesquisa e desenvolvimento promovido pela Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis (ANP).

Em seu núcleo está um On-Demand Ocean Bottom Node, ou OD OBN. Este sistema semipermanente do fundo do mar é usado para a aquisição de dados sísmicos de alta resolução e subsidência do fundo do mar.

Assim como os nós convencionais do fundo do mar (OBN), cada OD OBN contém três geofones e um hidrofone, um sistema de gravação de dados, baterias e um relógio de alta precisão. Os sensores detectam ondas de pressão emitidas por uma fonte do tipo airgun, rebocada por um navio, à medida que são refletidas para cima em direção ao fundo do mar a partir das camadas subjacentes de rocha ao redor do reservatório.

Ao contrário dos nós convencionais, os OD OBNs permanecem no fundo do mar, até 3.000 m, coletando dados sísmicos por até cinco anos. Isso reduz significativamente o custo de repetidas campanhas sísmicas no fundo do oceano, uma vez que a embarcação de manuseio de nós é removida das operações. Também reduz o impacto no meio ambiente e nos ecossistemas marinhos.

A ativação dos nós, a verificação dos alarmes dos eventos de subsidência, a calibração dos relógios internos e a coleta dos dados sísmicos serão realizados por meio de um veículo submarino autônomo (AUV) denominado Flatfish, desenvolvido em um projeto ANP estreitamente interligado, pelos parceiros Shell Brasil, Petrobras, SENAI CIMATEC e Saipem.

O Flatfish encontrará cada nó usando a 6ª geração (6G) de sistemas de posicionamento acústico da Sonardyne. Nossa acústica também suportará telemetria de dados com os nós, para verificações de integridade, configuração e sincronização de tempo acústico. O Flatfish irá então pairar acima de cada nó, por sua vez. Usando uma largura de banda extremamente alta e uma variante baseada em laser com eficiência energética do dispositivo de comunicação óptica BlueComm da Sonardyne, ele coletará sem fio muitos gigabytes de dados sísmicos em apenas alguns minutos.

Esta variante usa dois lasers modulados rapidamente para produzir comunicações bidirecionais simultâneas em um alcance de mais de cinco metros. Ele é otimizado para desempenho de transferência de dados de pico, com velocidades demonstradas de mais de 600 megabits por segundo. Isso o torna excelente para coletar grandes quantidades de dados de nós do fundo do mar.

“Usando OD OBN em combinação com o Flatfish, uma campanha sísmica 4D no pré-sal pode ser executada de forma mais simples, com menor custo operacional, menor risco de exposição humana e menor impacto ambiental”, afirma Jorge Lopez, Gerente de Tecnologia de Subsuperfície da Shell Brasil. “Além disso, os nós também medem a deformação do fundo do mar e podem monitorar continuamente possíveis eventos de subsidência que podem ocorrer durante a produção do campo”.

Os resultados

Na primeira fase do projeto OD OBN, doze nós protótipos totalmente funcionais foram construídos. Estes são compostos por dois tipos de conceito diferentes e foram projetados e construídos pelo SENAI CIMATEC em Salvador, Bahia em conjunto com a Sonardyne Brasil.

Em 2021, os testes iniciais de registro de dados sísmicos foram realizados no campo do pré-sal de Sapinhoá no litoral brasileiro e os testes de interoperabilidade entre os nós e o Flatfish AUV foram realizados em águas rasas em Trieste, Itália.

Um intenso trabalho em laboratório  e um programa de demonstração e testes offshore estará sendo realizado nos próximos 18 meses para garantir que o sistema OD OBN atenda aos seus requisitos operacionais. Este programa aumentará a maturidade da solução, com testes em campos do pré-sal para registro de dados sísmicos com os protótipos OD OBN e as missões AUV de comunicação e coleta de dados.

Na próxima fase do projeto, a partir do final de 2022, a Shell e a Petrobras assinarão um novo acordo para fabricar 600 nós e implantá-los para três anos de monitoramento de reservatórios num campo do pré-sal brasileiro.

A new world of multi-robot ocean exploration

The OECI’s Technology Integration Challenge made major strides in multi-robot operations, on the surface and underwater, unlocking ways to explore our ocean – and far more efficiently. Find out how and the role our acoustics played.

The challenge

Ocean exploration is costly. Operations involving single underwater platforms, such as remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) or autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), often take up an entire cruise. Even when multiple underwater robots can be accommodated on a vessel, only one tends to be deployed at any one time, due to the complexity involved in its deployment, operations and recovery. It makes ocean exploration expensive and limits how much science can be conducted on any one cruise. But what if uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) could be used, not just as force multipliers for mapping operations, but as a remote shepherd, coordinating multiple underwater vehicles, they would be able to operate entirely freely from a mother ship.

This was a key objective of the US’ Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute (OECI) 2022 Technology Integration expedition NA139 on the Exploration Vessel (EV) Nautilus.

Enhancing ocean exploration through the use of remote and autonomous operations is a key objective of the OECI, a partnership between The University of Rhode Island, The Ocean Exploration Trust (OET), The University of Southern Mississippi, the University of New Hampshire (UNH), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and primary funding partner National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ocean Exploration.

The expedition brought together OECI partner robots together with OET’s EV Nautilus for a ground-breaking technology demonstration in the Pacific Ocean during May 2022. These were:

Mesbot – WHOI’s mid-water robot that is designed to image and sample plankton layers.

NUI – WHOI’s hybrid ROV-AUV, designed initially to work under ice, that can operate out to about 20km on a fibre optic cable for high data rate data, but can also continue to operate without the fibre link.

DriX – UNH’s 7 m-long USV capable of supporting a variety of payloads such as multibeam echo sounders, acoustic communications and tracking and surface communications.

Their goal was to have all three platforms operating together, sharing information and situational awareness and relaying their information, via the DriX, back to the EV Nautilus, enabling scientists onboard to remotely control subsurface operations up to 20 km away from the ship.

Key to meeting their goal was inter-vehicle communications, tracking and positioning.

The solution

The DriX used a marine broadband radio link to communicate with the RV Nautilus (and our HPT 3000) to track, position and communicate with (including providing navigation data) the Mesobot and NUI as part of our Mini-Ranger 2 Ultra-Short BaseLine USBL system.

The underwater vehicles Mesobot and NUI were fitted with our AvTrak 6 combined tracking, telemetry and control transponders. The EV Nautilus was also fitted with our Ranger 2 Gyro USBL system, which would have also be able to track, position and communicate with the Mesobot and NUI, if this had been required.

Mini-Ranger 2 is our mid-level USBL tracking system that’s also able to support communications with underwater vehicles. It can track up to 10 targets at a time, at ranges of up to 4,000 m (with an extended range option) and, with our Robotics Pack, enables command and control untethered underwater vehicles.

For the OECI team, it was this combination of communications and positioning – acomms and USBL – that offered the broadest possibilities to the mission, from a single system.

AvTrak 6 is our tracking, communications and relocation transceiver. It allows USBL aiding for your AUV from a surface vessel and robust telemetry for AUV to vessel and AUV-to-AUV communications.

Ranger 2’s Gyro USBL comes pre-calibrated, thanks to its perfectly aligned acoustic transceiver and built-in attitude and heading reference sensor (AHRS), so you don’t need to take the measurements otherwise needed to determine the alignment of the ship’s motion sensors to the acoustic transceiver.

This makes it a very a portable system that the OET can use on vessels of opportunity. On the EV Nautilus, it was fitted through the vessel’s moon pool.

The results

“This was a real first for us,” – Professor Larry Mayer, Director of the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, University of New Hampshire.

Over the course of the 16-day expedition near the island of Oahu, off Hawaii, the team tested and demonstrated operational capabilities. Over 30 dives were performed, totaling 210 hours in the water.

The team established a common control system, based on the robot operating system (ROS) for the vehicles and then set out, each time proving out more and more capabilities.

First, they had DriX track and communicate with Mesobot, using Mini-Ranger 2. Because the DriX has GNSS data at the surface, this meant it could position the Mesobot in the real-world and relay this data back to the RV Nautilus.

Next, they sent commands, via the DriX to Mesobot, from EV Nautilus to open and close its samplers, as well as to move up or down or to the right or left as well as change speed through the water column.

But then the most exciting thing happened, explains Professor Mayer:

“Mesobot is designed to sample layers in the water column. But it doesn’t know where they are. DriX has a sonar (EK-80) that could see those layers. So we could get DriX sonar data back on the ship and in real-time see what’s called the scattering layer of plankton and command the Mesobot to go to that layer to sample it.

“Because Drix is circling above, it can actually see the Mesobot in the layer. This was a whole new world. Normally, Mesobot is sampling blindly. We could now direct it into the layer, know it’s in the layer and see if its entrance causes the layer to scatter. All these were unknowns before.”

The team were then able to repeat these activities with NUI, including using DriX to map the seafloor east of Maui and then relay a mission to NUI for further investigation. In addition, CTD data, as well as snippets of imagery and bathymetry were transmitted acoustically up to the DriX, using Mini-Ranger 2, and then via the radio link back to the Nautilus.

“By the end of the cruise we were able to have both vehicles in the water with the DriX circulating above, communicating with each of the vehicles, giving each other situational awareness, and the mothership, it was off do its own thing. I couldn’t have asked for a more successful cruise,” says Larry.

“We are really opening up a new world of multi-vehicle operations. In the old days, we would schedule a cruise and just use the Mesobot or schedule a cruise and just the NUI or an ROV. Even if they would all fit on one ship at the same time, you only use one at a time, so the $60,000 a day would be clicking away and you’re only doing a single science operation.

“Now we can do 2-3 science operations, the efficiencies are tremendous and it allows us to explore the seafloor, water column and surface all at once.

“The Mini-Ranger 2 system gave us the broadest base of possibilities with having both the acoustic communications and the positioning, USBL and acoustic communications, from the same system and that combined set of capabilities was so important to us.

“The standardization and ease at which we were able to send messages across from our programmers made it easy to use. The cooperativeness and responsiveness of the team at Sonardyne was also really helpful. They didn’t see it as disruption, they saw the possibilities.”

The expedition was funded by NOAA Ocean Exploration via the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute.

For more information and to watch other videos from Nautilus, click here.