Page 35: of Marine Technology Magazine (June 2006)

www.seadiscovery.com Marine Technology Reporter 35

Hafmynd - Gavia Ltd

Fiskislod 73, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland

Tel: +354 5112990; Fax: +354 5112999

E-mail: [email protected]

Internet: www.gavia.is

Hafmynd Ltd. was formed in 1999 as a privately owned company specializing in the commercial development, manufacturing, and marketing of the Gavia AUV. Hafmynd's roots date back to 1996 when the development of the

Gavia AUV began. The first Gavia prototype made its maid- en voyage in 1997 and was used extensively for testing and development until the year 2000. In 2001 the first pro- duction Gavia was built and sold to the Marine Research

Institute with vehicle following to the University of Iceland.

Towards the end of 2003 the second generation Gavia was introduced. Building on the experience of the first genera- tion vehicles, the second generation vehicles offers several important improvements such as the fully modular design, allowing for user reconfiguration of the vehicle, rapid change out of battery modules and simplified maintenance and reduced maintenance costs. The first three deliveries of the second generation Gavia began in 2005 to the

Canadian Research Council as a dual use oceanographic research/ testbed vehicle followed by deliveries to the

United States Navy for MCM applications and to the

University of British Columbia and the for oceanographic research. Hafmynd Ltd. is the sole owner of the Gavia design and IP rights. Hafmynd controls the development, production and marketing of the Gavia system, which enables the company to act rapidly to market trends and customer requirements. New sensors and devices can thus be integrated in the shortest possible time.

Technology Profile

The GAVIA AUV System developed by Hafmynd LTD, is a commercially available fully modular compact AUV capable of both very shallow water and deep-water operations. The

Gavia base vehicle is a mobile sensor platform that can be user onfigured on deck for a particular task or operating condition by the addition of one or more sensor, navigation or battery modules, which are inserted into the vehicle and locked in place by means of a unique twist lock system.

The modularity of the Gavia allows the option of a single vehicle to be utilized for more then one use and for joint ownership by more than one institution such as the Gavia that was delivered to the Canadian Research Council, which purchased a Gavia as an engineering test bed vehi- cle and as an oceanographic research platform. Gavia's modularity allows for varied configurations of vehicles to be utilized in applications from mine hunting to oceanography and commercial survey applications.

In summer 2006 the GeoSwath swath bathymetry sonar from GeoAcoustics will become available for the Gavia, allowing full IHO standard bathymetry to be gathered from a small AUV. This will make the Gavia an ideal tool for sur- veyors to use from vessels of opportunity or from the shore.

MTR#5 (17-35)2.qxd 6/16/2006 11:22 AM Page 35