Successful demonstration of the Atlas AUV family

Atlas Elektronik with its combined Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV) resources from Germany, UK and Denmark conducted a successful series of AUV demonstrations at the company owned test site in Bincleaves, Dorset, UK.

The Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) SeaOtter MK II was equipped with a new side scan sonar, multibeam echosounder and camera. The demonstration was planned and exe-cuted as a transit section into the survey area, where the AUV continued to conduct a survey with transecting lines, followed by a transit section back to the launch point.

The demonstration took place at the beginning of July 2010 and showcased the SeaOtter MK II and the SeaWolf AUV to a select group of commercial customers to witness the demonstration of ATLAS AUVs. Both AUVs successfully conducted their missions in simultaneous survey operations.

The hybrid AUV/ROV SeaWolf conducted a simultaneous survey operation using side scan sonar only and in shallow water between 5 and 8m depth. The SeaWolf conducted a lawn-mower pattern survey with tight line spacing.

“The demonstration was a success,” said Sven-Christian Hesse, Head of UUV programs at Atlas Elektronik. “We set about to demonstrate the feasibility of having multiple AUVs simultaneously operating in the water and that our AUVs have reached the level of reliability demanded by our customers. We have seen the result of the intensive evolution of the SeaOt-ter and we provided the evidence that AUVs can quickly survey large areas of seabed from the convenience of sheltered facilities such as a harbour.”

“We have moved beyond the technology now, this is when we focus our attention on the appli-cations we are able to facilitate for our customers” said Jesper Peter Menne Baunsgaard, sales manager for Atlas Maridan.“ The AUVs can carry multiple payloads according to the re-quirements by the customers and the combination of these and their integration with the MAR-POS navigation system makes the possibilities for application virtually unlimited.

Source: Atlas Elektronik