Marine Technology integrates an SBG INS/GNSS in their HydroDron

Marine Technology presented HydroDron, the first autonomous hydrographic unmanned vessel in Poland, at Baltexpo 2019. The recently finished project was co-financed by the National Centre for Research and Development and was awarded in the competition “Baltexpo Golden Anchor 2019”.

HydroDron Allows Surveying in Inaccessible Waters

HydroDron is an unmanned catamaran made of lightweight and durable material, with a double-hull system (4m long and 2m wide).

The engine part, equipped with two electric motors working independently of each other, provide adequate speed and maneuverability, reaching a maximum speed of over 10 knots.

This autonomous and remote-controlled floating platform dedicated to hydrographic measurements in limited waters is characterized by mobility. It is possible to carry it in the mission area on a car trailer or a larger surface vessel and launch it from the trailer from the beach, shore, wharf, platform, or the surface vessel.

HydroDron operates in waters inaccessible or difficult for larger manned units, making their use impossible or unprofitable.

An USV Fully Equipped for Hydrography

The development of the platform’s autonomous navigation and automatic 3D hydrography systems represents a significant improvement of Marine Technology’s remotely controlled multi-purpose surface platform for operation in port areas and other restricted areas.

The platform will now be able to perform bathymetric, sonar, and other measurement missions in a fully autonomous mode, implementing adaptive trajectory planning and automatic 3D analysis of near real-time situation measurement data around the platform.

HydroDron Equipment

HydroDron integrates a wide range of measuring equipment in order to provide a multitude of different variants:

• Integrated bathymetric and sonar system 3DSS-DX-450 from Ping DSP
• Industrial computer for data acquisition Getac S410 (the main element of the hydrographic station)
• External Dual Antenna Inertial Navigation System Ekinox2-D from SBG Systems
• Single-beam dual-frequency sonar HydroBox HD from Syqwest
• High-frequency single-beam sonar Echologger EU400
• LiDAR PUCK VLP-16 by Velodyne

A sensor system also monitors the situation on and around the platform to increase situational awareness, including two vertical probes, one in each hull, two video cameras (rotating and stationary), and a weather station.

In addition to typical navigation data, video data from both cameras, weather information, battery voltage level, current depths under each float, etc. are recorded. Radar and two laser rangefinders (bow and stern) are used in the unit’s anti-collision system.

The shore station receives navigation data, managed by two consoles:

• a navigation console
• a hydrographic one with a Getac computer.

Hypack software ensures hydrographic measurements, from planning the work to developing the final product.

Hydrographic data from the multibeam probe and LiDAR are recorded on board industrial computers.