AUV System Spec Sheet

Echo Mapper II configuration

Platform: Bluefin-21
Manufacturer: Bluefin Robotics
Commercial Operator: Fugro Seafloor Surveys

Summary

Echo Mapper 2

The fully air transportable Echo Mapper Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) is one of the multiple AUV solutions offered by Fugro worldwide. Echo Mapper is a Bluefin 21 AUV and is operated by Fugro Seafloor Surveys, Inc., in Seattle.

AUVs are the ultimate choice of instrument platforms for deep sea surveys. By placing the survey instruments on board an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), the geophysical measurements take place close to the seafloor, dramatically improving the resolution and accuracy of the acquired data.

In deep water this quiet vehicle is able to gather data with a very low signal-to-noise ratio and thus returns cleaner data with higher resolution. The AUV, in contrast to a ROV, operates without an umbilical and is therefore able to move faster and quieter. Your survey is completed sooner and the results are better.

The Echo Mapper AUV differentiates from other AUVs because it can be quickly air shipped and mobilized to a vessel of opportunity in remote survey locations.

Multibeam Echo Sounder, side scan sonar and sub-bottom profiler are the three main geophysical instruments on board. These instruments are of the same type as normally operated from a survey vessel.