iXblue is one of several firms leading the charge into the domain of unmanned and autonomous survey vessels, suitable for use in offshore applications. During my visit to the Ocean Business Exhibition in Southampton, in April 2019, there were unmanned survey vessels of all shapes and sizes everywhere you looked. There is no doubt that…
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The world’s first ever survey project (of scale) using Satellite Derived Bathymetry (SDB), Airborne Bathymetric Lidar (ABL) and a vessel mounted multi beam echo sounder was successfully completed in Tonga on Christmas Eve. The challenges were many, including the scale of the project, shallow waters in places, some unchartered waters and old data and charts…
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From concept to maiden nautical charting survey in just two years is an incredible feat. And how privileged the iXblue survey team is to not only conduct the maiden survey of the Unmanned Survey Vessel (USV) DriX, but to do so in a region as beautiful as Tonga. Two years ago, this vessel was…
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The second half of 2018 is shaping up to be a very exciting one for iXblue Australia, with a few large survey projects in progress. We also have several survey system development projects underway. These are nearing completion and should allow us to undertake testing and trials before the end of the year. New…
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It’s critical to data accuracy that sound velocity is applied during post processing. Rhys Davies, our Senior Surveyor discusses the two types of probes that iXblue uses. The first is a portable system – dubbed the ‘mini svp’ which is hooked up to a line and lowered by hand to the sea floor to measure…
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When conducting a hydrographic survey, the conventional method used to calibrate a tide gauge is to use a tide pole. The big disadvantage of doing it this way is that it usually requires someone to be on site for up to 26 hours, making it a labour intensive and expensive process. iXblue has a much…
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Some of our clients request proof of the multi-beam echo sounder’s target detection performance. Senior Surveyor Dave Mundy of iXblue explains the process, which involves ground troofing of the multi-beam against a physical object of known dimensions. He demonstrates the process, whereby a pre-fabricated one metre cube is lowered to the sea floor at approximately…
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We conduct patch tests on our multi-beams to detect any fine misalignment between the survey sensors, allowing us to produce a highly accurate and finely calibrated data set. Senior Surveyor Dave Mundy explains the method, which involves post process analysis of the multi beam data to determine angle offsets in the transducers and motion sensors.…
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During the mobilisation process, a Reference Surface Check is conducted using the multi-beam to determine if a surface has been sounded to the most accurate standard. Dave Mundy, iXblue Senior Surveyor explains the process involving motion lines, motion corrections, cross checking against the initial reference surface check.
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iXblue Senior Surveyor, Rhys Davies discusses the variables which affect how sound travels through fresh water and salt water and why that affects the accuracy of survey data. He demonstrates the two Sound Velocity Probes (SVP) iXblue uses to measure sound speed and travel time in shallow and deep water. The mini SVP, which can…
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