Sonardyne Technology Selected to Support Fugro’s Fleet of Uncrewed Surface Vessels

February 1, 2021 | AUVSI News

Technology from Sonardyne has been chosen to support leading geo-data specialist Fugro’s global fleet of uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) and remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs).

Sonardyne’s Mini-Ranger 2 Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) position system will be integrated into Fugro’s new 12-meter long Blue Essence USV, the first of which will be delivered to Fugro’s base in Perth in February. Once integrated, the Mini-Ranger 2 will allow the Blue Essence to deploy, track, command and control ROVs and underwater autonomous vessels (UAVs) as part of inspection, survey and data harvesting projects – all of which will be controlled from Fugro’s onshore remote operations centers.

Ivar de Josselin de Jong, Global Solution Director for Remote Inspection at Fugro, said the integration of Sonardyne’s positioning system into Fugro’s uncrewed and remotely-operated vehicles is key in supporting the development of safer, more sustainable and more efficient approaches to the construction and maintenance of marine assets. “Our fleet will deliver an entirely remote-controlled inspection solution for the first time in history,” de Jong said. “And this will play a pivotal role in the rapidly growing offshore wind sector.”

Graeme Buchanan, Sales Manager with Sonardyne, added that Sonardyne is pleased to support the transition towards uncrewed operations in the marine sector. “Enabling entirely remote-controlled inspection with solutions such as our Mini Ranger 2 is delivering safer, more sustainable and efficient operations across the ocean space,” Buchanan said.

Mini-Ranger 2 is ideal for use from small vessels, where precise maneuvering is required. It can track up to 10 targets at very fast update rates and has a standard operating range of 995 meters – extendable to 4000 meters. The Marine Robotics software also contains additional capabilities, including secure data exchange and remote control of multiple UAVs in a swarm scenario.