Rudder Roll Stabilisation System

The Imtech Rudder Roll Stabilisation System, developed by one of Imtech's leading Senior Consultants, Dr. Ir. Peter van der Klugt in close cooperation with the Delft University of Technology and the Royal Netherlands Navy, consists of both an adaptive autopilot for course/heading keeping and a patented roll stabilising control algorithm for roll reduction. The Rudder Roll concept allows for roll reduction of a ship, without the need for separate stabiliser fins. Next to the cost saving on additional fins, the RRS System provides reduction of engine room space, underwater noise and water resistance. The absence of stabiliser fins... (read more)

2009-06-08 12:03:47

Weather Buoys Roll Off Production Line

Axys Technologies sees a demand for its buoys, resulting in deliveries all over the world. The Marine Institute at Memorial University in Newfoundland has recently deployed two new monitoring platforms into their SmartBay monitoring network. A 3 metre aluminum discus buoy and a 1.75 Metre WatchKeeper buoy recently dropped anchor into two locations on Placentia Bay (Come by Chance Point and the Pilot Boarding Station). Both buoys are outfitted with meteorological and oceanographic sensors, including wind speed and direction, air temperature, barometric pressure, currents and TRIAXYS waves that provide both researchers and Placentia Bay users with timely weather data for... (read more)

2010-07-30 01:27:12

UK eLoran Roll-out to Back up Vulnerable GPS

Seven differential eLoran stations will be installed along the south and east coasts of the UK, following approval by the Department for Transport. The stations will provide alternative position, navigation and timing (PNT) information to ensure that ships equipped with eLoran receivers can navigate safely in the event of GPS failure in one of the busiest shipping regions in the world. The UK claims to be the first in the world to deploy this technology for shipping companies operating both passenger and cargo services. The roll-out, led by the General Lighthouse Authorities (GLAs) of the UK and Ireland, will replace the equipment... (read more)

2013-07-19 12:00:00

ODIM acquired by Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce has acquired ODIM ASA, a technology group that designs and manufactures automated handling systems for the civil nuclear, naval, and oil and gas sectors. ODIM Brooke Ocean and ODIM Spectrum, a part of ODIM ASA's portfolio, mainly focus on the naval sector. These companies will now be added to Rolls-Royce's naval marine business portfolio. ODIM Spectrum and ODIM Brooke Ocean will be represented under the Rolls-Royce banner at upcoming exhibitions. These events will be held in Germany, Canada, USA and Australia. Rolls-Royce's President, Naval, Andy Marsh, informed that incorporating the range of ODIM ASA's underwater sensor handling devices into... (read more)

2010-06-01 01:41:32

GPS/GLONASS RTK Receiver Module

The Ashtech MB100 GNSS board has been developed for applications when power consumption, size and dependable performances such as raw data quality, real-time positioning (SBAS up to RTK) or GNSS heading + pitch/roll determination are critical. The MB100 is designed to address L1 GPS+SBAS applications - including heading + pitch/roll determination. Ashtech’s Z-Blade Technology and dual-frequency GPS configuration offerlong-range RTK performance, while single-frequency GPS + GLONASS configuration provides more satellites in view for demanding environments. Embedded Z-Blade GNSS centric technology uses all available GNSS signals equally, without any constellation preference, to deliver fast and stable solutions. The MB100 works as... (read more)

2013-06-06 10:10:46

Motion Sensor Performance

Direct Comparison Using 2005 Common Dataset

Integral components of a swathe bathymetry system are the motion and heading sensors. The current trend is to offer a system that combines both components in one package, either as an aided inertial sensor or as two sensors linked by component software. The quality of these inertial sensors has a direct effect on the quality of the final survey. This paper compares five leading available sensors, concluding that they produce markedly differing results. Most surveyors when purchasing or specifying a particular inertial system for a project will base their decision on information generated by the manu-facturers, which often shows all... (read more)

2008-01-01 01:00:00

Rolls-Royce Acquires Shares in ODIM

Roll-Royce has acquired 33% of the shares in the technology company ODIM from Aker Solutions ASA. The board of directors will as soon as possible initiate a dialogue with Roll-Royce to clarify the intentions behind the transaction. ODIM has appointed SEB Enskilda as a financial advisor to evaluate the strategic options for ODIM, including the ownership structure. The ODIM board will actively work to maximize return for all shareholders. (read more)

2009-06-29 01:43:00

The MRU and SRF Aligned (II and III)

The alignment of the motion reference unit (MRU) is important for the accuracy of a multi-beam survey. The patch test is mostly used to solve angular offsets between the multi-beam head and the MRU; however, this does not solve all the aspects that must be taken into account. This article in two parts describes the method used by the Survey Department of the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat; The Netherlands), which for reference purposes in this article we shall call the ‘Dutch method’.<P> As explained in Part I in theprevious issue of Hydrointernational, the alignment of the... (read more)

2009-01-05 12:00:00

Artefacts in Multi-beam Echosounder Data

This article is about my thesis project, which I did in collaboration with Auke van der Werf at the Dutch Nautical Academy at Terschelling (the Netherlands). The research for the thesis was done at the Dutch Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat). This article presents a subset of the thesis. I would like to share the knowledge I gained and the lessons I learnt about lever-arm errors, motion time delays and yaw misalignment, which can result in dynamic motion residuals, also called artefacts or wobbles.<P> Over the last decade, Rijkswaterstaat (part of the Dutch Ministry of... (read more)

2008-05-30 12:00:00

Ixsea at Dsei 2009

Ixsea, the world leader in Fiber Optic Gyroscope (FOG) technology, will be exhibiting at the Defence Systems & Equipment International show, which will be held from 8th to 11th September in London (UK). The company will present its navigation an positioning solutions for naval and land applications. The Marins, specifically designed to meet the demands of the navy for high-accurate INS. Octans, an IMO-certified gyrocompass, designed with a complete motion sensor that outputs true heading, roll, pitch, surge, sway, heave, speed and acceleration. Gaps, a portable and pre-calibrated acoustic tracking system, capable to track any type of targets... (read more)

2009-07-21 01:44:50