USV project supported by Valeport reduces cost of ocean mapping

The first USV, SD 1024, known as the “Surveyor,” was equipped with a shallow-water multibeam echo sounder. The echo sounder bounces 512 pings of sound 20 times per second off the ocean floor, adjusted for heel and roll. Saildrone recognising the accuracy of the data gathered would be significantly reduced without a sound velocity profile, developed an autonomous winch system, to lower Valeport’s SWiFT sound velocity profiler through the water column to directly measure sound velocity every half meter. Saildrone’s second USV, SD 1025, known as the “Profiler,” was equipped with the autonomous winch for sound velocity profiling using Valeport’s SWiFT SVP.

Working collaboratively, the two saildrones successfully mapped a coastal area, performing multiple sound velocity profile casts over a three-day period, with the deepest cast reaching a depth of 85 meters (280 feet). This approach allowed for maximum efficiency: one vehicle surveying non-stop 24/7 while the other took regular sound velocity profiles.  All of the data was uploaded and available to download from Saildrone’s servers within five minutes of each cast completion.

Saildrone says its mapping USVs will be able to provide International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO)-standard shallow-water bathymetry anywhere in the world, no matter how remote the area might be. They will be able to deliver information that is critical for marine safety in areas previously uncharted, or after major disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, or hurricanes, which can significantly alter the seabed or create dangerous underwater obstacles.