Sonardyne has announced the first sale of its new SPRINT-Nav Mini navigator.
Subsea technology specialist Seatronics has purchased the world’s smallest hybrid acoustic-inertial navigation instrument for its VALOR remotely operated vehicle (ROV), itself designed to be the smallest, most powerful and capable inspection class ROV in its category.
Derek Donaldson, Seatronics’ Group managing director, said: “Specifying payload sensors for a vehicle like VALOR often requires a trade-off between accuracy, performance, price and ownership. SPRINT-Nav Mini offers both the survey positional accuracy our clients are looking for, and a small form factor that we can fit and put straight to work.
“Another key reason for investing in SPRINT-Nav Mini is our ongoing relationship with Sonardyne. We knew that we would be fully supported in our concept to push the boundaries of remote operations from a small ROV solution by the Sonardyne team. This is critical when adopting new technology for a new platform.”
Precise navigation
Launched this month, the SPRINT-Nav Mini navigator will provide VALOR with accurate, precise and robust navigation and control.
SPRINT-Nav Mini combines an INS, AHRS, pressure sensor and DVL in a single subsea housing depth rated to 300m or 4,000m and weighs as little as 3.6kg in air. The new Navigator variant extends the capability of the Guidance model, introduced in 2020, by calculating and providing the position of a remote, autonomous or piloted underwater vehicle, or uncrewed surface vehicle, in addition to its velocity, depth and attitude.
VALOR already offers an advanced capability for its size, with a 40Gbp MUX capacity allowing it to accommodate the most modern, high bandwidth survey sensors. Equipping it with the SPRINT-Nav Mini navigator further differentiates it from similar-sized platforms, providing a significantly more flexible, configurable inspection platform that can undertake a variety of tasks that would typically be associated with much larger ROV systems.
Source: www.maritimejournal.com
Image: www.pexels.com
