Page 43: of Marine Technology Magazine (January 2014)

SeaRobotics ?Collapsible? USV Aids in Arctic Survey.  Articulated Claw ?Hook-Grab-Cut?  Laser Scaling 3D HD CameraTeledyne Gavia said that it sold two additional 1,000m depth rated Gavia Offshore Surveyor Autonomous Underwa- ter Vehicles (AUVs) to UTEC Survey Inc. of Houston. UTEC purchased its  rst Gavia AUV in August 2011 then took deliv- ery of a second vehicle in April 2012. After honing their AUV operations over the past two survey seasons, the company de- cided to increase the  eet with the purchase of two further vehicles, the  rst delivered in October 2013 and the second system delivery due early in 2014. The UTEC Gavia AUVs are fully equipped for geophysical surveys in near-shore environments out to 1,000m. UTEC?s Gavia AUVs have recently proven their capability off East Africa where they are used for a wide variety of offshore sur- vey and inspection tasks. The vehicles are  tted with swath bathymetry, side scan sonar, sub bottom pro ler modules, as well as a depth rated camera with strobe lighting. The built- in camera allows for overlapping images which are digitally stitched together forming a complete mosaic of the survey mission. The two most recent vehicle purchases come with the DVL aided ROVINS154 Inertial Navigation System module (IXBlue, France), providing a high accuracy INS in a pack- age that is not of US origin so it does not automatically come under the ITAR export control regulations. All UTEC AUV INS navigation is further enhanced by the additional purchase of both USBL and LBL systems from Teledyne Benthos (Fal- mouth, Mass.) which provide aiding to the INS enabling high- er accuracy and longer endurance missions. SRI International demonstrated capabilities for conduct-ing underwater chemical surveys with its in situ membrane introduction mass spectrometry (MIMS) device integrated into a Blue n-12 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). The sensitivity, speci city, and versatility of mass spectrometry enable in-water identi cation and analysis of a wide range of chemicals. ?The ability to combine highly sensitive and calibrated mass spectrometry with AUVs gives researchers and industry a new tool for critical underwater survey applications,? said Timothy Short, manager of the Marine and Space Sensing Group in the Space and Marine Technology Program at SRI International. ?Much as we are seeing an increase in valuable data collec- tion applications for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), we can now collect and analyze underwater data more ef ciently and accurately. The integrated SRI-Blue n solution is unprec- edented for its ease of deployment, advanced survey capabili- www.seadiscovery.com Marine Technology Reporter 43MTR #1 (34-49).indd 43MTR #1 (34-49).indd 431/23/2014 10:54:11 AM1/23/2014 10:54:11 AM