Press Release issued by Sonardyne
FAIRFAX, Va. - General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), has successfully completed the comprehensive risk reduction program for the U.S. Navy's Knifefish Surface Mine Countermeasure Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) program. Designed to discover any potential systems defect early on in the program's development phase, the configuration item test (CIT) successfully verified key components within the UUV system including the hardware architecture and critical areas of hardware and software integration.
"The completion of this significant milestone is a great achievement for our Knifefish team," said Thomas Kirchmaier, president of General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems. "As an essential component of the Navy's surface-ship mine countermeasure mission packages, Knifefish will help meet the constantly-evolving requirements of today's fleet and greatly reduce risk to Navy personnel and ships."
- See more at: http://www.gd-ais.com/News/General-Dynamics-Completes-Comprehensive-Risk-Reduction-Program-for-Knifefish-Unmanned-Undersea-Vehicle#sthash.RnIrfvYr.dpufFAIRFAX, Va. - General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), has successfully completed the comprehensive risk reduction program for the U.S. Navy's Knifefish Surface Mine Countermeasure Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) program. Designed to discover any potential systems defect early on in the program's development phase, the configuration item test (CIT) successfully verified key components within the UUV system including the hardware architecture and critical areas of hardware and software integration.
"The completion of this significant milestone is a great achievement for our Knifefish team," said Thomas Kirchmaier, president of General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems. "As an essential component of the Navy's surface-ship mine countermeasure mission packages, Knifefish will help meet the constantly-evolving requirements of today's fleet and greatly reduce risk to Navy personnel and ships."
- See more at: http://www.gd-ais.com/News/General-Dynamics-Completes-Comprehensive-Risk-Reduction-Program-for-Knifefish-Unmanned-Undersea-Vehicle#sthash.RnIrfvYr.dpu12 March 2014 - Sonardyne International Ltd. and Bluefin Robotics, developers of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), have today announced at Oceanology International in London, a collaboration to integrate Sonardynes Solstice Side Scan Sonar with a Bluefin-12 AUV. A modular vehicle that allows for swappable payloads, Bluefin-12 is most commonly used for offshore survey, search and salvage, environmental monitoring and unexploded ordnance survey operations.
A new generation of search and classify sonar with integrated swath bathymetry, Solstice produces imagery of the highest possible quality from a conventional (non-SAS) sonar. It is designed to produce wide swath coverage (100 metres) whilst consuming only 18 Watts of power, increasing the operational and cost effectiveness of the AUV.
"Bluefin Robotics and Sonardyne have a long partnership; we already use products from their acoustic positioning and wireless communications technology ranges which are installed on some of our other AUV models," said David Kelly, President & CEO for Bluefin Robotics. "Installing Solstice is part of our latest development programme to demonstrate the technology as an integrated option for our customers."
"Solstice has been specifically designed for AUV integration with its low power consumption and wide swath for increasing operational capability," commented Nick Swift, Business Manager for Sonardyne Maritime Security. "This collaboration further shows the commitment of both companies to providing industry-leading solutions that deliver real benefits to customers."
For more information, please contact Nick Swift on +44 (0)1252 872288 or visit www.sonardyne.com.
You can find this release online here.
About Sonardyne
Sonardyne International Ltd is recognised as a world leader in the design and manufacture of underwater acoustic positioning, inertial navigation, wireless communications and sonar technology systems for the offshore oil and gas, ocean scientific and maritime security industries.
About Bluefin Robotics
Bluefin Robotics designs, manufactures and operates Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) systems and related technology. Founded in 1997, the company has grown to become a world leader in AUV products designed for defense, commercial, and scientific applications. Bluefin Robotics is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Battelle. For more information, please send your inquires to sales@bluefinrobotics.com or visit www.bluefinrobotics.com.
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Underwater Mass Spectrometer from SRI International Successfully Integrates with Bluefin Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
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Cost-feasible for commercial applications AUV integration delivers more cost-effective mapping of light hydrocarbons over large areas, which is critical as mass spectrometry expands from a research instrument to a valuable data-gathering tool for commercial applications in the oil and gas industry.
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Ability for continuous measurement The true value of underwater mass spectrometers is the ability to achieve continuous measurement of volatile gases, light hydrocarbons, and organic compounds. By untethering underwater monitoring equipment from the ship, surveys can traverse large areas of the ocean or extended pipelines without interruption, enabling individual and multiple survey collections of real-time data each time the AUV is submerged.
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Reduced operational risk Underwater hydrocarbon survey launch and recovery operations involving equipment tethered to ships pose a greater risk the longer the connection is in place. Shifting to an AUV-based survey reduces operational risks to personnel and vital and costly equipment.
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Increased quality of data The stability of AUVs leads to an increased quality data collection process. Untethered from a surface vessel, maneuverability is more precise and navigation more accurate. AUVs collect high quality geo-referenced data more efficiently than towed systems.