Page 57: of Marine Technology Magazine (April 2012)

www.seadiscovery.com Marine Technology Reporter 57Hydroid Launches New AUV: The REMUS 100-SHydroid, Inc., a subsidiary of Kongsberg Maritime announced its new AUV, the REMUS 100-S, an evolution of the man portable REMUS 100 sys- tem configured specifically for hydrographic and offshore surveys. The REMUS 100-S features the Kongsberg Inertial Navigation System, which includes a Honeywell Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), the NavP navigation processing suite, and a payload processor, which is used to initialize and control all sensors. The 100-S also features a new Vx Works Operating System, updated version 7.0 of VIP software, a field-replaceable antenna, a precision GPS sensor and 1 GBit Ethernet, allowing users to download data at high speeds. The REMUS 100-S is compatible with industry standard post-processing software packages including Kongsbergs Reflection and NavLab. Reflection is available to process data from the vehicles core module, side scan sonar and GeoSwath interferometric sonar. NavLab is used with NavP to post-process navigation data to deliver higher accuracy position data. To differentiate the 100-S from the standard REMUS 100, the entire body of the AUV is painted yellow. www.km.kongsberg.com/hydroid Custom Made Battery Packs Cell Pack Solutions design and build battery packs for underwa-ter applications using Tadiran lithium cells built into different con- figurations, with specific design considerations to enable them tobe installed into the equipment - lithium cells are particularly good for use in harsh marine environments where temperatures and conditions can sometimes become extreme. The battery pack is designed to power a particular piece of oceanographic equipment, and is popular with universities and research insti- tutes. The particular characteristics of lithium batteries ? espe- cially lithium thionyl chloride manufactured by Tadiran means the battery pack will be more suitable than other lower powered bat- tery chemistries such as alkaline.www.cellpacksolutions.com ROVINS: Enhanced Heave CompensationCalesurvey was in the market for a superior motion sensor to use in conjunction with a variety of instruments, mostnotably an R2Sonic multibeam echosounder (MBES), onboard the Kommandor Stuart, the company's dedicated DP-2 geophysical survey vessel. Based on upcoming survey work in the seas around Greenland, where challenging, long- period swells are common, Calesurvey was particularly interested in the heave compensation performance of the motion sensor. iXBlue proposed Calesurvey use one of its ROVINS units to provide the necessary input required by the MBES. ROVINS is based on iXBlue's innovative fiber-optic gyroscope technology and is an underwater product intend- ed for use by the offshore industry in water depths of up to 3000 metres. The unit provides accurate position, head- ing and attitude data and combines a survey-grade, fully-featured, inertial navigation system (INS). ROVINS heave accu- racy is, stated by the manufacturer, 2.5 cm or 2.5% of amplitude, whichever is lower, courtesy of the Smart Heave algorithm, which filters the vertical acceleration data prior to integration and applies a 100-second delay on the datas- tream, during which short-term motion history is taken into account. iXBlue engineers were on hand to install the ROVINS unit on the Kommandor Stuart and to help iron out integration issues in preparation for a trial in the North Sea. Most importantly, the survey results from the MBES contained half of the heave artefacts that Calesurvey was accustomed to, with twice the overall heave accuracy. www.ixblue.com