Fusion underwater vehicle introduced

2nd February 2017 - 13:30 GMT | by The Shephard News Team

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Nortek and Strategic Robotic Systems have launched a new jointly developed underwater vehicle that combines autonomous and remotely underwater vehicle (AUV and ROV) capabilities with diver navigation and propulsion technologies, the company announced on 1 February.

Called Fusion, the vehicle has been designed to combine AUV, ROV and diver functionality in a single vehicle with a suite of sensors in a tightly integrated package, including multi-beam forward-looking sonar, side-scan sonar, and a 1MHz Doppler Velocity Log (DVL).

Nortek's 1MHz DVL has a bottom track that ranges from 20cm to 50m, and its housing is available with a 4000m pressure rating.

Jesse Rodocker, president at Strategic Robotic Systems, said: 'Both the electronics and transducers are smaller and have a better form factor for the Fusion underwater vehicle. The higher frequency for increased accuracy is of huge value for aiding the Fusion's automated control and navigation system. The added dedicated altimeter provides more accurate altitude directly below the Fusion for better terrain following.'

He added: 'The Fusion is a real first. There isn't a system on the market that combines the AUV, ROV and diver functionality in the same way. Fusion is also really the only system to be built from the ground up with a specific suite of sensors in such a tightly integrated package.'

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