Page 33: of Marine Technology Magazine (September 2022)

Iridium: Connectivity & USVs www.iridium.com

Speed and reliability of communication and connectivity is key to accurately and rapidly transmit data from the ? eld – whether it’s from traditional crewed ships, USV or AUVs – to the shore, and Iridium is a big and growing player in the ? eld. At the recent SMM 2022 in Hamburg, Germany – the world’s largest shipbuilding technology event – Iridum

Photo by Bartolomej Tomic had an XOcean USV displayed on stand. “The USV mar- ket, the uncrewed vehicle market, is an emerging market,” said Wouter DeKnopper, VP & GM of Maritime, Iridium.

DeKnopper said that the need for reliable comms at sea spans the spectrum, from science and academia to commercial op- erations, with the XOcean USV as a case in point. “We are working with real companies, that have real applications out in the ? eld, and XOCEAN is one of them. They are deploy- ing the USVs for, for instance, for wind farm inspections.

The Iridium CERTUS technology lends itself very well to

USV applications. (There are many reasons, including) our l- band truly global network. Also, the hardware is really small and compact,” helping it to survive the harsh environments

At the recent SMM 2022 – the world’s largest where the USVs operate. “So with our small, compact, no shipbuilding technology event – Iridum had an moving part, antennas that also provide very low-latency

XOcean USV displayed on stand.

service and broadband connectivity, it’s the ideal ? t for the applications that the USVs need to perform.” The applica- tions on the XOcean USV span from the ©2022 HydroComp, Inc.

command, control and management of the USV itself, tracking the USV and

Below The Surface monitoring its performance. It also in- cludes the relay of information captured

Is What Matters by onboard sensors and video, so the that the onshore team is able to collect,

Under the surface of the collate and analyze data and information water, the results from our more rapidly.

calculations and knowledge

R VU A R ROV V V are hard at work.

“One of the reasons that Iridium is be-

HydroComp connects your ing looked at as the provider of choice ingenuity with improved for these autonomous solutions is one is outcomes: that you got to have critical communica- > Thruster Design tions that are resilient,” said Bryan Har- > Vehicle Hydrodynamics tin, EVP Sales & Marketing, Iridium. “If > Propulsion Energy Budget U O U U VU VU V you’re doing command and control of an >

Performance Improvements autonomous vessel, you’ve got to have > Silencing Propeller Noise the trust that that communication link >

Electric Motor Drives is going to be maintained in all kinds of

Let us expand your sea of conditions. So we’re a natural choice for opportunities by providing these kind of solutions. The other aspect design software and services of this is the fact that we have world- for your team! class value-added manufacturers that have developed, designed and manufac- hydrocompinc.com/uv 603.868.3344• tured products that can withstand all the ® ® ® ®

NavCad PropElements PropCad PropExpert• • • harsh environments when you’re out at sea.” www.marinetechnologynews.com 33

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