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thrusters on the market. Of particular note in the last year is the development and advancement of its ArduSub subsea vehicle control software, which is de- signed around the open-source ArduPi- lot project, bringing in advanced sensor and navigation features. Recently, we have integrated the system with acoustic positioning devices to provide a mov-

Blue Robotics ing-map display of ROV position and are used for research, academic projects, now in use in a wide range of applica- autonomous position hold and waypoint prototype development and commercial tions from aquaculture to tank inspec- navigation. New in 2017 is the Blue

OEM integration around the world. tion to marine biology to archeology. Robotics “Crushinator,” a pressure test

With new products released on a month- Blue Robotic’s patent-pending thruster vessel with 45.7 cm (18-in.) inner diam- ly basis, its product line will continue to design is its most important technology. eter and 76.2 cm (30-in.) inside length. expand and support the needs of the ma- It uses a unique brushless motor design The vessel can simulate depths of up to rine robotics and subsea industries. The that is compact, inherently pressure tol- 1,015 meters (3,330 ft) and has electri-

BlueROV2 has been on the market for erant, and, the company claims, signi? - cal cable penetrations and an internal about one year, and over 400 units are cantly less expensive than comparable live camera view to monitor testing.

Valeport Ltd

Totnes, Devon, U.K. • http://www.valeport.co.uk/

Valeport is an independent family owned business based in the UK which designs and manufactures underwater measur- ing equipment. Valeport has supplied the subsea sector since it was established in 1969 and has a customer base that includes: environmental, research, defense, oil and gas, renewable en- ergy, construction, port/harbor, dredging and civil engineer- ing sectors. Its products include sound velocity probes, cur- rent ? ow meters, wave recorders, tide gauges, ? uorometers,

CTDs, multi-parameter CTDs, altimeters, depth sensors/ bathypack and GPS echo sounders. Valeport exports around 80% directly and at least half of the remainder is sold to UK of? ces of multinational companies, or as OEM to other Brit- ish exporting companies, so approaching 90% of production ends up overseas. Valeport is currently observing a buoyant

Valeport market, particularly in the hydrographic survey and ports and harbor area, where sales of tide gauges, for example, are up create a useful pro? ler for surveys requiring CTD and turbid- by 22%. Valeport sees the oil and gas survey business is show- ity. Valeport is introducing key revisions to the rapidSV and ing a gradual resurgence with the Midas SVX2, miniIPS and rapidCTD, the probe series that allows data pro? ling while a

VA500 Altimeter gaining much favor with contractors as work vessel is underway; popular with users of the Teledyne rapid- levels increase. CAST winch deployment systems. A rechargeable battery

Valeport has been at the forefront of sound velocity technol- will deliver extended deployment times; inclusion of GPS will ogy since establishing its Digital Time of Flight technology 10 offer the bene? ts of geo-location of ? les; and dual Bluetooth years ago. The latest SVP, SWiFT (pictured), delivers sound will provide enhanced comms for easy data download and al- velocity pro? les providing survey grade sensor technology lowing a surveyor to conduct SV pro? les on command. Vale- with the convenience of Bluetooth technology and recharge- port has supplied more than 1000 CTD sensors to Sea Mam- able batteries. A new Android app was launched in 2017. mal Research Unit for use in tags. The design was modi? ed

Earlier this year Valeport showed a new sensor designed for to include a ? uorometer to produce a CTF sensor maintaining the dredging community. dredgeMATE combines the power the small footprint to continue tag integration. The new sensor of SWiFT SVP (CTD) technology with a turbidity sensor to will help SMRU obtain oceanographic data sets.

2017 July/August 8 MTR

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