Explosive Accuracy for ARA

As a complete vessel-based acoustic positioning system, Scout USBL is designed for tracking divers, ROVs and towfish in waters up to 1,000 metres. Calculating the position of a subsea target by measuring its range and bearing from a vessel mounted transceiver to an acoustic transponder fitted to the target, the system offers high-accuracy performance with efficient subsea tracking operations. To undertake the survey, ARA mobilised its Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) ROUMRS which was fitted with a Sonardyne WSM 6 transponder and a Scout transceiver was deployed from the side of the dock on a simple pole arrangement. Positioning data from Scout was fed to the accompanying Sonardyne ViewPoint navigation software which transforms the coordinates of surface vessels, subsea vehicles and structures into geographical information that is overlaid on easy-to-use guidance displays.

John Coughlin, Director of Engineering and Sciences at ARA, was impressed with the sub-metre accuracy achieved in this challenging environment.