Sonardyne Navigation for Thai AUV Programme
Marine robotics technology supplied by Sonardyne Asia Pte. Ltd, of Singapore has been selected to help navigate an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) being developed by a joint research programme between PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP) and Kasetsart University (KU), Bangkok, Thailand. The order for a SPRINT inertial navigation system (INS) and Syrinx doppler velocity log (DVL) was placed by the PTTEP-KU and will be integrated on a 4,000m-rated, long-endurance AUV being built for applications including pipeline maintenance and oil-spill detection.
With a track record spanning 10 years, Sonardyne’s SPRINT technology makes use of aiding from data sources including acoustics, DVL and pressure sensors to improve the accuracy, precision and integrity of subsea vehicle positioning over long distances.
Dual Gyrocompass and INS Modes
KU, as part of this research program, will be the first academic institution in the region to own Sonardyne’s new, third generation SPRINT which supports dual gyrocompass and INS operating modes, allowing AUV pilots and survey teams to utilise its navigation output simultaneously. A redesigned lightweight titanium housing provides valuable space and weight savings to help maximise mission endurance.
Syrinx DVL provides tightly integrated beam-level aiding for SPRINT, even if one or two DVL beams are unavailable. It is able to operate at altitudes up to 50 percent higher than conventional 600kHz DVLs with the high resolution performance of a 1200kHz DVL, all whilst navigating over undulating and challenging terrain of any type.
According to Daniel Tan, regional sales manager for Sonardyne in Singapore the marine robotics team at Kasetsart are designing a vehicle that will be capable of conducting pipeline inspections over distances of 100 kilometres without any external position aiding. Reliable, survey-grade navigation data will be essential to the success of its missions and this is where our all-in-one acoustically-aided INS solution comes in.
Yodyium Tipsuwan, assistant professor at Kasetsart University, said to have chosen this solution because a tight integration between INS and DVL results in highly reliable navigation data. This is crucial for a very long range autonomous mission. Also, he reports this comes with smaller cost comparing to other solutions.
