Inertial Navigation & Positioning Technology for Unmanned, Autonomous Systems

iXblue USBL Selected by Subsea Solutions Provider

By Mike Ball / 02 Sep 2021
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iXblue Gaps M7 USBLiXblue’s Gaps M7 USBL (Ultra Short Base Line) acoustic positioning and communication system has been purchased by integrated subsea and offshore solutions provider Unique Group for inclusion in its rental pool of equipment. The system will be made available to Unique Group’s clients across the Americas.

The Gaps M7 USBL delivers superior horizontal tracking capabilities and very high-precision geo-referenced positioning performance from extremely shallow water depths down to 4,000 meters. It is ideal for a range of unmanned marine platforms including AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles), ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) and underwater gliders.

The lightweight and compact system is easy to install and operate, and can be deployed from small vessels of opportunity with a reduced crew onboard, or on instrumented buoys. Featuring an embedded inertial navigation system (INS), Gaps M7 does not require any in-the-field calibration, making it ready to use right away and translating into operational time savings and efficiency.

Ajay Kottaye, Survey Business Manager – Americas, at Unique Group, commented: “USBL positioning systems have been highly sought after by clients due to the increase in geophysical projects in the US. Such projects push the vertical-horizontal tracking range and accuracies to extremities, with an understanding of these requirements Unique Group has invested in the iXblue Gaps M7 USBL and added it to our rental pool so that clients can choose the best solution for their projects. Gaps M7 is an integrated solution that makes USBL (Ultra Short Base Line) underwater positioning extremely simple to operate from any vessel of opportunity, using a portable and truly pre-calibrated USBL head coupled with internal INS (Inertial Navigation System) and GNSS.”

Euan Mackay, Business Development Manager at iXblue, said: “We would like to thank Unique Group for their renewed trust and continued support in our subsea navigation and positioning technology. We are also pleased to see that our Gaps M7 USBL systems continue to provide highly accurate subsea positioning for their clients across the Americas.”

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Posted by Mike Ball Mike Ball is our resident technical editor here at Unmanned Systems Technology. Combining his passion for teaching, advanced engineering and all things unmanned, Mike keeps a watchful eye over everything related to the unmanned technical sector. With over 10 years’ experience in the unmanned field and a degree in engineering, Mike’s been heading up our technical team here for the last 8 years. Connect & Contact
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