Specialist Unmanned Surface Vehicles / Vessels / Unmanned Boats for Hydrographic Marine Surveys

Seafloor Systems is a specialized developer of turnkey hydrographic survey solutions and unmanned surface vessels (USVs), with over 20 years’ experience with multibeam sonar equipment and cutting-edge hydrographic technology.

We are constantly expanding and evolving our fleet of USV options to accommodate complex payloads for a wide range of survey applications, scenarios, and environments.

We select the best systems and the industry’s most trusted ancillary components to configure turnkey solutions scaled to meet individual performance requirements and budget. Thanks to our long-established official sales and support agreements with some of the best innovators in the multibeam and hydrographic fields, our solutions are proven and well-supported.

EchoBoat-240 Unmanned Surface Vessel

USV for remotely-controlled or autonomous marine surveys

The EchoBoat-240 is an advanced remote-controlled and autonomously operating USV designed for the highest-resolution marine survey applications requiring high stability even under rough conditions. With powerful twin brushless DC outdrive motors and a payload capacity of 90 kg/200 lbs, the EchoBoat-240 can field state-of-the-art sensor suites for any requirements imaginable without sacrificing performance.

The highly versatile USV features multi-payload capacity and easily interchangeable sensor suites, and can be equipped with survey-grade single beam, multibeam, and side scan sonar systems. The vessel’s mounting well is designed around leading models including the Teledyne SeaBat T50/T20, the R2Sonic 2024, or the Norbit iWBMS-STX.

The EchoBoat-240 features our innovative AutoNav USV autopilot module, which allows you to easily pre-plan a mission, upload the mission to the vessel, and launch for fully autonomous operation. Upon completion, the vessel will loiter in place.

The USV can be monitored within line-of-sight range, and can be upgraded with additional hardware to enable over-the-horizon monitoring. All data is stored via an onboard PC with a direct cable connection, and a remote data link provides full equipment control and data acquisition. The USV can be easily switched from autonomous to remote control via a long-range remote control unit (RCU) that can operates at distances of up to 2km.

The two-person transportable vessel can be launched from a trailer or cart, or from a manned survey boat via a davit. It is ideal for standalone operations or as a force multiplier for a crewed vessel, operating either in the shallows or alongside the main boat.

We can tailor the EchoBoat-240 to your individual requirements, providing the vessel with a desired sensor payload pre-installed, or set up ready to accept existing systems from your survey equipment pool. We can also develop customized cabling that allows the vessel to interface with a variety of GPS, GNSS and RTK positioning systems.

Specifications:

Learn more: EchoBoat-240 Unmanned Surface Vessel

HyDrone Remote Control & Autonomous USV

Portable catamaran marine survey vessel

The HyDrone is a one-person portable catamaran survey vessel that can be remotely controlled or powered by our AutoNav USV autopilot for autonomous operation. The lightweight, rugged vessel provides easy access to remote or hazardous areas, and is easily disassembled for transport and shipping.

The vessel can be monitored and controlled at long range in both manual and autonomous modes, and can carry out missions of over eight hours at 3 knots on a single battery bank. The HyDrone is controlled via intuitive Mission Planner software that runs on a laptop and communicates via a radio telemetry link.

The HyDrone can be equipped with a variety of payloads, including ADCPs and single beam, multibeam and side scan sonar systems. It is particularly suited to our HydroLite Portable Echosounder kits, which provide high-accuracy depth measuring and logging for professional hydrographic survey applications.

Learn more: HyDrone Remote Control & Autonomous Surface Vessel

HydroCat-180 Catamaran ASV

Autonomous surface vessel for hydrographic surveys

The HydroCat-180 is a rugged 18-foot catamaran USV featuring individually articulated hulls, a gimballed deck, and dual-actuated electric motors. Designed for fully autonomous hydrographic surveys, it can carry up to 700 lbs of payload and provides a mission endurance of 8 to 12 hours.

The HydroCat-180 can be equipped with a wide variety of high-resolution survey payloads, including single- or dual-head multibeam echosounders, HD cameras, LiDAR and sidescan sonars.

Specifications:

Learn more: HydroCat-180 Catamaran Autonomous Surface Vessel

EchoBoat-160 Unmanned Surface Vehicle

Portable USV for autonomous and remote-controlled surveys

The EchoBoat-160 unmanned survey vessel is a smaller version of our EchoBoat-240, featuring the same autonomous and remote-control capabilities, as well as long survey endurance and flexible payload swapping.

Specifications:

Learn more: EchoBoat-160 Unmanned Surface Vehicle