Michigan State Police Upgrades Deepwater Capability
OceanServer Technology, USA, has recently delivered an Iver3-580 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to the Michigan State Police Underwater Recovery Unit. The AUV system operates at depths to 200 metres and includes EdgeTech’s 2205 high-resolution sidescan sonar. OceanServer has sold over a dozen systems to customers in the Great Lakes Region including four systems to the University of Michigan and one Iver3 system shipped to Michigan Tech University in 2013.
Rapid Deployment in Challenging Towed Sonar and Diver Operations
The Michigan State Police Underwater Recovery Unit has a lot of ground (water) to cover with thousands of inland lakes and shorelines on four of the Great Lakes. The Iver platform will allow the team to rapidly deploy the AUV in shallow water and in depths over 50 metres where towed sonar systems and diver operations are far more challenging. AUVs allow users to program fixed lawn-mower style sweeps of wide areas with very little logistical support or cost. The EdgeTech’s 2205 sonar system comes with two frequencies (1600kHz/600kHz) to give investigators the option for very fine resolution or wide area survey capability. AUVs are increasingly being called into service for support in underwater forensics and search and recovery operations.
