Australian Marine Ecology Orders Iver2 AUV
Australian Marine Ecology has purchased an Iver2 Autonomous Underwater Vehicle. This vehicle, equipped with OceanServer’s new dual-port camera system, will be used in a broad range of upcoming research initiatives that include coral reef mapping in shallow lagoon habitats of the Lihou Reef in the Coral Sea. Other reef work will include ongoing monitoring and measurements of the coral bleaching and crown-of-thorns starfish. The vehicle will also collect data to better examine habitat conditions and mapping of marine protected areas, as well as for design of seabed infrastructure.
The Australian Marine Ecology personnel spend up to one hundred days in the field each year, including hundreds of hours underwater in a variety of environments and conditions. The scientific team is one of the most active in southern Australia, and is heavily involved in underwater surveys for fisheries, environmental impact assessment, and ecological research. The Iver2 AUV will be another critical asset for the organization, along with fully equipped laboratories, a scientific diving team, ROV, and a variety of instrumented surface vessels already offered by Australian Marine Ecology.
All Iver2 AUV models come standard with OceanServer’s VectorMap Mission Planning and Data Presentation tool, which provides geo-registered data files that can be easily exported to other software analysis tools. This unique software design, coupled to a growing variety of sensors, has enabled OceanServer to carve out a strong position in the research space for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles. The VectorMap program can input NOAA ENCs or any geo-referenced chart, map or photo image, allowing the operator to intuitively develop AUV missions using simple point-and-click navigation.
The base vehicle, with a starting price at just over USD50,000, gives university, government and commercial users an affordable base-platform for sensor development or survey applications in water quality, sub-surface security and general research.
