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

At a glance

• Tracking, communications, and emergency relocation in one instrument
• Use with Ranger 2 to track every move your AUV makes
• Bi-directional acoustic modem with user selectable data rates; 200-9,000 bps
• Wide voltage input range and multiple communication methods for robotics integration
• Optimised for Ranger 2 Robotics pack for aiding navigation systems with remote position outputs
• Housed variant or OEM for integration into vehicles

Mini but mighty

AvTrak 6 Nano measures just 192 x 55 mm, you won’t find a smaller AUV transceiver with this much capability. It has an operating range of 3,000 m, a depth rating of 500 m and full SMS and Modem functionality.

Going smaller still, AvTrak 6 OEM Nano redefines nano, measuring at just 95 mm x 43 mm. You won’t find a smaller OEM AUV transceiver with this much capability. Its omni-directional transducer is small too, at 49 mm diameter and 72 mm long.

Equipped with AvTrak 6 Nano, your AUV will receive unlimited data and share messages every navigation cycle when used with Ranger 2. By supporting the integration of a data payload inside every navigation signal, this allows more data to be transferred to and from AUVs with fewer transmissions which ultimately reduces power consumption and increases mission endurance.

A common configuration enables the USBL system to communicate with a squad of AUVs equipped with AvTrak 6 Nanos, broadcasting to all the position of each member of the squad to aid the navigation solution and improve their situational awareness. Each AUV then replies in sequence with status information.

AvTrak 6 Nano can also be used to enable AUV-to-AUV communications and choose from seven telemetry schemes ranging from 200 bps to 9,000 bps of effective user bandwidth. Either for short burst communications or full large quantity data upload from seabed monuments.

At a glance

• Combines tracking, communications, and emergency pinger functionality in one instrument
• Track your AUV in USBL mode, localise it in LBL transponder mode
• Bi-directional acoustic modem with user selectable data rates; 200-9,000 bps
• Integrated outputs enable control of a release, burn-wire or drop-weight functions
• Worried about onboard power interruption? AvTrak’s internal battery provides days of emergency vehicle relocation tracking
• Choice of hardware configurations to simplify vehicle installation

Backed by over 40 years of LBL system experience, Fusion 2 is the obvious choice for your offshore installation projects. Its 6G+ technology allows centimetric subsea positioning in all water depths. Highly robust and accurate instruments, professionally supported by our in-house engineers and surveyors, have made it the system of choice for subsea structure installations for decades.

Used with products such as GyroCompatt 6+, it provides you with centimetric positioning along with class leading Lodestar gyroscopes for heading, pitch and roll measurements all in a single, easy to deploy instrument.

If your underwater operations require precise measurements, an acoustic metrology system using several Compatt 6+ transponders can be placed in a network on the seabed / structures / hubs. The depths of the Compatts can then be accurately measured and 6G+ Wideband acoustic ranges collected between them.

Fusion 2 enables your seabed transponders to be SLAM calibrated in real-time for easier and faster Sparse LBL operations. And by embedding sensor data with high-update navigation ranging data, there’s no more interruptions to positioning updates at critical moments.

You’ll begin to see the benefits even before your project teams head offshore. Acoustic and INS projects can be configured and checked onshore prior to vessel mobilisation – saving you time, streamlining procedures and helping you to further de-risk operations.

If you need to tailor your operations, Fusion 2 enables multiple computations, comparing different set-ups, allowing you to pick the one you want. Sparse LBL might suit one operation more than LBL and vice versa. Now it’s easy to check, on-site, which works best for you.

For optimal performance, Fusion 2 can be used with a number of our products – including Gyro Compatt 6+, Compatt 6+, SPRINT-Nav, ROVNav 6+ / mini ROVNav.

To further increase operational efficiency, digital signal processing protocol, Fusion 2 is best paired with Wideband 3, which you’ll find inside our trusted 6G platforms, Compatt 6+ and ROVNav 6+.

Wideband 3 gives you sensor data alongside navigation ranging data, providing your operators with real-time positions and sensor data at the same time. This allows the acceleration of update rates by a factor of ten, eliminating latency issues.

Our breakthrough digital signal architecture delivers you:

• Superior performance in challenging shallow water environments
• Extended range capability for long-distance dive profiles
• Simultaneous tracking of all divers
• Intelligent acoustic management
• Real-time updates through our intuitive interface

Built for real-world performance

DiveTrack gives you complete visibility of your dive operations. Building on our expertise in USBL and telemetry systems, we’re helping you push the boundaries of what’s possible in diver training and operations – all from just two rugged, easily portable, Peli cases.

Your complete solution includes:

Compact command unit housed in an IP-67 rated Peli case featuring:

• Up to 10 hours of battery life
• Integrated USBL positioning
• 10-metre cable
• Wi-Fi connectivity
• GNSS heading for calibration-free setup
• Space for your laptop or tablet

Intelligent charging station in a second Peli case:

• Charges up to 8 DiveTrack transponders
• Secure transport configuration
• Automatic ‘safe flight mode’ when stored
• 10+ hours of operational endurance per transponder
• Universal connector system for various dive computers

Innovation at work

We’ve engineered BlueComm 200 UV to push the boundaries of your underwater communication. Using advanced LED technology and sensitive photomultiplier tubes, you’ll achieve communication ranges up to 75 m. Its design houses the emitter separately from the receiver, ensuring optimal performance and reliability.

Fast and flexible – key features to power your mission

• Lightning-fast data transfer: 2.5 to 10 Mbps at ranges up to 75 m
• Optimal performance: Perfect for moderate to low turbidity dark water (>200 m depth or at night)
• Flexible deployment: Connect with your AUV, ROV, USV or surface dunker system
• Deep-rated capability: Ready for operations up to 4,000 m
• Speed of light technology: Experience unprecedented data transmission rates

Perfect for your platform

Perfect for your:

• Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
• Extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicles (XLUUV)
• Uncrewed Surface Vehicles
• Remotely Operated Vehicles
• Tracking and communications systems

Working with lights on? BlueComm 200 UV maintains reliable communication even with artificial lighting present. Operating at ranges up to 75 metres, it’s your go-to solution for ROV and AUV applications requiring illumination, such as video recording missions.

Both systems offer incredible energy efficiency – transfer more than nine gigabytes of data using just one Lithium D cell battery.

The solution

Launched in 2018, the OD OBN programme is a research and development collaboration between partners Shell, Petrobras, SENAI CIMATEC and Sonardyne, supported under the Research Development and Innovation funding clause of the Brazilian National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP).The On-Demand Ocean Bottom Node (OD OBN) programme marks a pivotal step in addressing these challenges, providing a disruptive approach to time-lapse seismic data acquisition.

It is a pioneering new system for acquiring 4D seismic data, which delivers more efficient and cost-effective surveillance of complex pre-salt fields. At its core is a long-term OBN system that can remain on the seabed for several years, capturing seismic data that can be recorded and harvested “on-demand” using autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), without the need for repeated deployment and retrieval cycles.

Vast quantities of seismic data are harvested wirelessly using an AUV such as Saipem’s ‘Flatfish’, that implements the through-water optical interface to interrogate the OD OBNs, as developed under a separate ANP programme sponsored by Shell.

This AUV data harvesting approach eliminates the need for node recovery, dramatically reducing vessel time, operational complexity and associated costs.

Key Sonardyne technologies include wireless acoustic communications, required for long range recording control and node clock time offset measurement, and Sonardyne’s BlueComm extremely high-speed optical communications for short range data harvesting to a nearby AUV or remotely operated vehicle (ROV).

The results

Over 2,000 days of trials of pre-production nodes have been conducted across various pre-salt fields including Sapinhoá, Itapu and Buzios. These have successfully demonstrated acoustic control, high-fidelity data acquisition and optical data harvesting using BlueComm, as well as comparing OD OBN data with that of other commercial nodes.

The final round of tests concluded successfully in 2025, with results presented at the IMAGE ‘25 conference in Houston and SBGf Rio’25 conference in Rio de Janeiro.

Next steps

A pilot array of 660 pre-production nodes is currently being produced at a brand-new manufacturing facility in Camaçari, near Salvador, Brazil. Hundreds of these nodes will soon be deployed at the Mero field operated by Petrobras for extended testing and performance evaluation.

The long-term vision is to use autonomy and state of the art communications technologies to enable operators to conduct more frequent ‘on demand’ seismic surveys, with higher fidelity data, at a fraction of the cost of conventional seismic survey methods.

This capability will provide clearer insights into fluid movements and pressure changes within the reservoir, helping to optimise production strategies, improve decision making and enhance recovery rates in one of the world’s most challenging offshore provinces.

OD OBN is not just an incremental improvement, but a fundamental shift in how the industry approaches deepwater reservoir management.

However, despite their importance, locating and monitoring seagrass beds using traditional methods, such as survey boats, presents significant challenges. Seagrass typically grows in shallow waters, which can make it difficult for boats to navigate close enough to the shore to obtain accurate data. Traditional survey boats are often large and cumbersome, making them hard to manoeuvre in shallow or rocky areas. This limitation can result in incomplete or inaccurate assessments of seagrass distribution and health.

Furthermore, the process of using boats for surveying can be time-consuming and labour-intensive. It often requires multiple trips and extensive manual labour to map out the seagrass beds accurately. The visibility in shallow waters can also be poor due to water turbidity, further complicating the survey efforts and leading to potential underestimation of seagrass coverage.

Finding a solution…

This is where Sonardyne and Wavefront Systems come in. The solution, which combines Sonardyne and Wavefront technology, is a survey boat carrying Solstice MAS™ (Multi-Aperture Sonar) as well as a SPRINT-Nav Mini mounted to a pole, deployed over the side of the boat; this maps the chosen area in 200 m wide strips. Once this survey has been completed, the sonar data that has been captured is then processed to create a map of the seagrass in a GIS. A Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) is then sent to the same area to ground truth features on the seabed to check that they are how they have been interpreted by Solstice MAS. The ROV is fitted with SPRINT-Nav Mini, allowing us to track its position underwater and guide it, using the map, to the features identified by Solstice; the ROV is also fitted with a camera and the recorded video can be used to create 3D models of the seabed.

Wavefront Systems’ Solstice MAS uses sound signals to produce high-quality images of the seabed, capable of creating images 200 metres wide at high resolution even in shallow water environments, all while consuming very little power. The Solstice family of sonars are built on unique MAS technology and are designed to fill the gap between standard side scan sonars, which are typically simple in design but give low image resolution, and Synthetic Aperture Sonars (SAS), which are expensive, more susceptible to complete data loss due to platform movement and also produce vast amounts of data. In order to execute more detailed mapping, Solstice MAS requires a high quality navigation sensor, which in this case is SPRINT-Nav Mini.

SPRINT-Nav Mini is an all-in-one vehicle guidance and navigation instrument, which combines AHRS data, Doppler Velocity Logger (DVL), Inertial Navigation System (INS) and depth sensor into a single housing. Having SPRINT-Nav Mini fitted onto the ROV provides positioning input, as well as attitude and heading data.

Adopting these technologies on such small versatile platforms opens the possibility of high-grade survey data in shallow waters. As a result of the cross Covelya Group collaboration between Sonardyne and Wavefront Systems, a high-definition map of seagrass beds can be created with a greater degree of accuracy than was previously possible with more traditional methods.

A seagrass restoration project conducted by the Ocean Conservation Trust (OCT) in Plymouth Sound, which involves monitoring, conserving and expanding the existing seagrass beds can be enhanced with the use of an ROV which has SPRINT-Nav Mini fitted to it. To help grow the existing seagrass beds, the OCT are placing seagrass mats on the seabed in Plymouth Sound. A survey boat fitted with Solstice and SPRINT-Nav Mini followed by an ROV fitted with SPRINT-Nav Mini can then be used to monitor and create a map of where these mats have been placed so that they have a better understanding of the success of the restoration and expansion project.

The solution

Portable and quick to mobilise, our Micro-Ranger 2 USBL system can be used from any waterside location or vessel to track divers, underwater vehicles and equipment. Ideal for using in lochs and challenging water.

It is our smallest ever underwater tracking system. Everything is engineered to fit in one medium-sized carry case. Apart from a laptop to run the software, nothing else is needed and the size is so small, it can be carried on a plane. Perfect for when Aquasky find work outside of Scotland.

For their anchor and mooring inspections, Aquasky attach a Micro-Ranger 2 Nano transponder to their ROV which then travels around the fish farms. A transceiver is mounted on a vessel nearby and acoustic signals between the transponder and transceiver are used to establish the ROVs, and therefore the anchor/moorings, position. This position can be displayed for in-water tracking and output in real world co-ordinates for interfacing into external chart plotting systems for the clients reports.

“We needed an accurate positioning system that continues to work as mooring lengths increase and in a noisy subsea environment. Having used other cheaper systems, the Micro-Ranger 2 is the only one able to consistently supply reliable positions for anchors at the 300m length currently used by the farms we service.“ Steve Barlow, Founder, Aquasky Ltd.

The results

By adding Micro-Ranger 2 to their subsea inspection tool kit, Aquasky Ltd are able to provide a service that has become the industry standard for fish farm inspections. Their use of an ROV means that inspections are quicker, safer and less expensive than traditional diver inspections. Using Micro-Ranger 2 ensures that the ROV never gets lost and provides accurate data which is vital for the inspection reports.

The challenge

Without surface platforms, acoustic data from the subsea sensors had to be harvested by crewed vessels in the early years of the field’s operation. This was costly, carbon heavy and posed a risk to personnel in often challenging sea conditions.

With a company ‘Powering Progress’ strategy to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, Shell was looking for an alternative data harvest method that would reduce cost and risk as well as its carbon footprint.

The solution

Marine robotic platforms provide the opportunity to remove carbon and personnel risk. Working with the customer and XOCEAN as a sub-contractor we developed a solution that would save time, costs. and carbon, while also eliminating the human risk element, using a USV to conduct the data harvest.

The proposal was to use our HPT 3000 transceiver mounted to an XOCEAN USV to remotely harvest data from the 75 seabed PMTs. The HPT 3000 is perfect in terms of size, weight and power for deployment from a USV and can communicate with seabed transponders at depths up to 995 m (or 4,000 m with an extended range version).

XOCEAN USVs are perfect for the data harvesting mission at Ormen Lange. They enable full over-the-horizon 24/7 operations. This means that operators and data analysts can remain safely onshore whilst the operation takes place and data can be sent ashore and verified in near real-time using the USV’s satellite communications.

This satisfied Shell’s commitment to accelerate the transition of their business to net-zero emissions and to integrate sustainability within their business strategy. Following the successful PMT installation in 2019, a five year project was agreed where Sonardyne are responsible for the data delivery to Shell and XOCEAN are responsible for delivering the transceiver to the field for data collection via their USV.

The results

The project began in January 2020 and this was the first time a remote USV data harvest was completed offshore in Norwegian waters by any operator.

Whilst the USV and HPT 3000 were in Norwegian waters surveying the Ormen Lange site, the Sonardyne and XOCEAN personnel never left their bases in England and Ireland.

The data harvest was monitored in real time, 24/7 and the two teams were in contact with each other as well as the remote equipment. This mean that data was being monitored by our team as it was collected and there was no risk of the USV returning with missing or irrelevant data. Had there been any missed or partially collected data the Sonardyne team could ask the XOCEAN team to return to recollect from a particular PMT whilst still in the field, rather than waiting until the vessel returned and having to send it out again.

Successful data harvests have been conducted yearly since 2020 and continue to be a cost effective, low impact operation. This year we collected data from the Ormen Lange site twice, in Spring and Autumn.

If you think you have a similar challenge for us, contact us today.