EvoLogics is a high-tech enterprise headquartered in Berlin, Germany, with a US sales office in Yorktown, Virginia. Founded in 2000, the company focuses its product portfolio on pioneering maritime technologies. Specializing in underwater smart robotics, sensor systems, acoustic communication and positioning networks, EvoLogics integrates advanced engineering with bionic principles.
2024 has been a busy year, with the company growing in size, expanding its production and delivering the first orders of the new diver navigation system that debuted at the beginning of the year.
Enhancements in standard and scooter configurations
The EvoLogics diver navigation system is one of the company’s key highlights of 2024, launched at Oceanology International London in March. The system simplifies complex underwater tasks involving multiple team members, such as search and rescue, salvage, recovery or cleanup operations. It facilitates map-based navigation for divers during missions, allows for waypoint set-up both pre-mission and in real time, and enables two-way communication between divers and the dive supervision team, as well as between divers.
The standard diver navigation system employs compact, battery-powered acoustic modems as diver trackers, positioned on the divers’ backs for unobstructed signal transmission. Divers use a tablet display that visualizes the map with all diver positions plus a chat tool similar to smartphone texting. Map waypoints can be added before or during the mission to coordinate the mission and mark the discovered objects in real time.
After its initial launch, the system underwent final field testing and pre-production design optimization. The modem tracker and mount accessories were reworked for improved usability, and the transport case was equipped with built-in charging adapters for easier maintenance between dive missions.
Now in full-scale production, the system is also being launched in the new scooter configuration. This new version of the diver navigation system has been tailored for use with dive propulsion vehicles (DPVs), also known as underwater scooters, responding to professional divers’ needs for extended range, reduced effort and improved control in challenging environments.
EvoLogics selected the lightweight, reliable GAVIN NT scooter as the platform for the scooter-adapted system. The integration streamlines scooter-aided operations by embedding the acoustic tracker into the scooter body and adding a display mount within comfortable reach of the diver. These components are the additional wearable gear in the standard configuration for dive tanks.
The tracker modem and the display draw power from the scooter’s internal battery, so charging the whole gear package does not require additional accessories
Sonobot 5 with USBL: mobile surface support
The Sonobot 5, EvoLogics’ compact uncrewed surface vehicle, has been a versatile platform since its 2011 debut. Today, the Sonobot is available with a wide range of hardware options that cater to various mission scenarios and survey requirements.
EvoLogics is dedicated to optimizing underwater operations with integrated systems built on a synergy of technologies, and in 2024 the team added an exciting new option for the Sonobot 5 – a submersible USBL antenna for acoustic data transfer and tracking of underwater assets. This follows earlier experiments with USBL-equipped Sonobot prototypes: in 2015 to 2017, EvoLogics integrated an acoustic USBL antenna with Sonobot 3, the platform’s 3rd generation.
The vehicle with USBL capabilities was used as an autopilot-driven solution for fast calibration of deployed LBL baselines, where each LBL node had to be accurately geolocated before putting the LBL system in operation. It was also tested as a mobile surface relay for AUV missions, where the vehicle communicated with a swarm of Manta Ray AUVs over the acoustic channel and transmitted their positions to the onshore operator over WiFi.
The lessons learned from the integration of the USV with a USBL modem were not shelved indefinitely, and in 2024 EvoLogics revisited the concept. A new Sonobot 5 prototype with a USBL antenna was developed and successfully tested. It features a streamlined moulded USBL modem, fitted on a motorized arm that lifts and submerges the USBL unit, controlled by the vehicle’s onboard software. Prototypes of Sonobot 5 with USBL are currently undergoing extensive field trials in preparation for market release in 2025.
Sonobot with USBL is envisioned to complement the diver navigation system by eliminating the need for stationary surface buoys, enabling greater operational flexibility. It adds mobility to the set-up, as the vehicle can follow a group of divers, allowing the team to move between areas of interest without the need to manually reposition and redeploy the surface node.
Another target application for the Sonobot with USBL is to provide an autonomous mobile surface link to data-collecting underwater vehicles, such as the EvoLogics Quadroin AUVs, moving along the target areas at greater depths.
EvoLogics at Ocean Business 2025
EvoLogics will showcase these latest innovations at stand M4 during Ocean Business 2025 in Southampton, UK. Visitors can explore the company’s solutions in underwater communication, positioning, robotics and AI, designed to tackle the most demanding scientific and industrial challenges.
EvoLogics is driven to push the boundaries of maritime technology with intelligent systems that redefine efficiency in underwater operations, and the team is looking forward to sharing its vision with the blue economy community in 2025.