Expanding the Role of SMARTRAK and SMARTSEARCH to AUVs

INNOVATUM, UK, has carried out successful testing, including autonomous operation of the Smartrak cable and pipeline tracking system on AUVs. This integration enables the AUV to navigate to the target cable or pipeline, follow it and measure position, including “Depth of Burial”.

Applications for AUV-integrated Smartrak systems include: survey of submarine pipelines (oil, gas and water); energy cables (wind farms & interconnectors); and communications cables. System integration between SMARTRAK and the AUV included both hardware and software elements. Data can be recorded in the AUV and retrieved post dive, for display and analysis.

Terry Slater, INNOVATUM Ltd. explains that by removing human decision-making from the loop, integration of this smallest, commercially successful cable tracker with AUV autonomous robotics, achieves even higher standards of data collection.

This SMARTRAK testing also indicates it will be possible to deploy the SMARTSEARCH UXO location system on AUVs.