Page 68: of Marine Technology Magazine (September 2014)

QinetiQ, as part of a new Marine

Surface Target Service, signed a contract with Autonomous Surface Vehicles (ASV) for the supply and operational support of autonomous surface target ves- sels. The partnership is part of a new ini- tiative enabling QinetiQ’s Marine Surface

Target Service to meet customer needs for trials and training against appropriate tar- gets. The Marine Surface Target Service is an addition to the wider QinetiQ Target

Services, which offers aerial and under- water targets for ‘real’ test, evaluation and training. With speeds greater than 50 knots, the targets are fast and versatile and can be customized to meet many trial or training requirements, including being fi t- ted with Miss Distance Indication (MDI) systems to provide accurate scoring. UTEC StarNet is part of the Hous- ton-based UTEC group of companies and it announced an expansion to its partner- ship with Sky Futures for 3D inspection and onshore and offshore asset manage- ment. The collaborative approach helps enhance both companies’ positions in their chosen marketplaces by providing a total solution thanks to a combination of UTEC StarNet’s IMDC and laser scan capabilities and Sky Futures’ advanced unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) inspec- tion and measurement services. These are delivered via UTEC StarNet’si-Site integrated 3D web-based software pack- age. Thales is supporting the next genera- tion of engineers with its sponsorship of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) Robotics team’s entry into the 17th Annual International RoboSub competition. The event, cosponsored by the AUVSI Foundation and ONR, aims to advance the development of Autonomous

Underwater Vehicles (AUV) by challeng- ing new engineers to perform realistic missions in an underwater environment. Subnero focuses on enhancing un- derwater networks and communications.

It offers high-performance underwater communications, navigation, monitoring and sensing solutions for researchers as well as commercial deployments. At the crux of these solutions is the fl exible Sub- nero underwater modem. The Subnero software-defi ned modems run UnetStack (www.unetstack.net), an agent based net- work stack designed to run highly opti- mized protocols for use in underwater communication networks. Fastwave has been appointed Aus- tralian distributor by Kongsberg Maritime for the supply, installation, training, ser- vice and support of the Seaglider system.

The Seaglider is an AUV developed for continuous, long term data acquisition for oceanographic, environmental, defense, research and other marine applications, with a range of over 4,500 kms and depth of up to 1,000m. Delta SubSea formally opened its new 20,400-sq. ft. Tooling Solutions fa- cility earlier this summer. This new facil- ity will add to DSS’s already vast infra- structure and provides DSS’s new Tooling

Solutions Division with the needed space to provide state of the art Tooling Solu- tions to their customers. DeepWater Buoyancy won a major contract to supply fl otation to the Uni- versity of Washington’s Applied Physics

Laboratory for the cabled observatory component of the Ocean Observatories

Initiative (OOI). The OOI, a project fund- ed by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is planned as an integrated in- frastructure of science-driven platforms and sensor systems to measure physical, chemical, geological and biological prop- erties and processes from the seafl oor to the air-sea interface. DeepWater Buoy- ancy will deliver more than 32,000 lbs. (14,500 kg) of DeepTec syntactic foam in support of the cabled observatory compo- nent of the OOI. Unique Maritime Group (UMG), an integrated turnkey subsea and offshore solutions provider, announced an equity investment from Blue Water Energy.

Founded in 1993, UMG is a specialist in the provision of services and the sale and rental of equipment for the marine, div- ing, hydrographic, oceanographic, oil and gas, inspection and NDT market sectors. Teledyne RD Instruments (TRDI) – manufacturer of Acoustic Doppler Cur- rent Profi lers (ADCPs); Conductivity,

Temperature and Depth (CTD); and Dop- pler Velocity Logs (DVLs) for offshore, academic and defense applications – an-

People & Company News

Autonomous Surface Vessels Caltech Robotics TeamUTEC

Photo: AS

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