Ultra Deepwater USBL Systems Sold
NOAA has recently taken delivery of a TrackLink 10000 system from LinkQuest to be installed on its newly converted research vessel Okeano Explorer. National Oceanography Centre (NOC), Southampton (UK), has recently ordered a TrackLink 10000 system which will be used for AUV tracking and communication.
The NOAA TrackLink system, capable of reaching a range of 11 km, will be used to track an ultra-deepwater ROV and its TMS system. The system, installed on the Autosub 6000 AUV, performed well in the system trials.
The system delivered to NOC has an integrated acoustic modem function that can be used to send commands to and receive data from the AUV. This integrated acoustic communication and positioning approach eliminates the acoustic interference typically existing between an acoustic communication and a positioning system, and increases the overall system reliability and usability. This is the second TrackLink 10000 ultra-deepwater USBL tracking system purchased by NOC.
Recently, the University of Hawaii also purchased a second TrackLink 5000HA system for tracking deepwater towed systems. The first system has been used to track deepwater manned submersibles, Pisces V and Pisces IV, accurately and reliably in the past three years.
