Page 50: of Marine Technology Magazine (May 2011)

Bluefin Robotics announced a con- tract to develop a robotic ship hull mine and Improvised Explosive

Device (IED) identification and neu- tralization capability for use in Joint

Service Explosive Ordnance Disposal.

A manipulator arm will be integrated onto the HAUV, a hovering AUV designed specifically for ship hull inspection. HAUN-N is the name of the new variant of the HAUV. The current practice for hull mine/IED identification and neutralization involves sending divers to scan the hull for targets and, when found, to mark them and neutralize them man- ually. The Bluefin Team—consisting of Bluefin Robotics, Oak Ridge

National Laboratory and Orca

Maritime—proposes to accomplish the task with an HAUV-N equipped with a high-precision manipulator arm and a video camera. The AUV will be capable of maintaining station at the target while a remote operator neutralizes the device, thereby keep- ing divers out of harm's way and completing the task more expedi- tiously.

Teledyne RD Instruments unveiled its next-generation Acoustic Doppler

Current Profiling (ADCP) product line at Ocean Business 2011. After 15, Teledyne RDI’s Workhorse

ADCP products will now be compli- mented by the new Sentinel V ADCP, the first in a series of V ADCP prod- ucts based on a new technology plat- form. This self-contained instrument is available in three profiling ranges - 20m, 50m, and 100m. The Sentinel

V ADCP boasts a litany of new fea- tures, including: multi-user access, allowing for two distinct sampling schemes from the same instrument; an integrated fifth beam for enhanced turbulence and waves measurement capabilities; high-speed wireless data download; and an off-the-shelf bat- tery option. The new Sentinel V also includes a powerful, yet user-friendly software interface, aptly named

Vector. Vector steps users through their system configuration using mul- tiple views and touch-screen capabili- ty, and provides vast post-processing options for the display and interpreta- tion of collected data. iXBlue at OceanBusiness unveiled its new identity under the iXBlue

Group, a group that brings together iXFiber, iXMotion, iXSea, iXSurvey,

Resiconcept and Sodena. The compa- ny also announced that it has sold two GAPS pre-calibrated USBL sys- tems and a PHINS 6000 inertial nav- igation system to Ashtead

Technology, a leading equipment rental company focused on the off- shore oil & gas, environmental mon- itoring and industrial inspection industries. GAPS (Global Acoustic

Positioning System) is designed for high-accuracy tracking of ROVs,

AUVs, divers and sonar or other towed systems. It can be used in a wide range of water depths, but per- forms particularly well in shallow, acoustically noisy waters. The units have their own internal inertial navi- gation system, which is pre-calibrated with the USBL before delivery to clients. This removes the need for a

USBL calibration every time the sys- tem is mobilized.

Seatooth-lite is a compact, low power, radio modem from WFS

Technologies. Seatooth-lite uses the latest digital technology to enable wireless radio communications and 50 MTR May 2011

New Techologies Debut at OB ‘11

Manufacturers often use the halls of the trade exhibition to announce new products and services, and Ocean Business 2011 in Southampton, UK was certainly no exception. Following is a sampling of the new technologies discussed during a busy three days at Ocean Business 2011.

Bluefin’s Michael Donovan and Deanna Talbot ensured

Ocean Business attendees were well aware of the Bluefin

AUV’s prowess. Bluefin recently announced that it was awarded a contract to develop a robotic ship hull mine and

Improvised Explosive Device (IED) identification and neutral- ization capability for use in Joint Service Explosive

Ordnance Disposal, a system to be based on its propri- etary HAUV, a hovering AUV designed specifically for ship hull inspection.

See Bluefin’s In-Water Demo at

OceanTech Expo‘11 www.oceantechexpo.com