The Scalable Accession Class USV
The UK-based company Unmanned Survey Solution (USS) has created a very unique Unmanned Surface Vessel called the “Accession Class USV” using SBG’ Navsight INS.
Designed to meet the surveyors needs for today and tomorrow, this USV incorporates a modular design which offers three variable boat lengths depending on the desired application.
The base boat length of 3.50m can be extended to 4.25m or 5.00m by adding additional hull sections.
Fully Equipped for Hydrographic Applications
The standard USV Hydrographic payload includes the highest industry standard sensors to meet IHO special order surveys.
These consist of a R2Sonic SONIC 2024 Multibeam sonar, an SBG Apogee Navsight INS + GNSS solution, and Valeport MiniSVS & SWIFT SVP for measuring sound velocity.
They acquire data using Hypack or QINSy Hydrographic software for mission planning, acquisition, post-processing, and final products.
This un-crewed platform is safer and more cost-effective than manned vessels for nearshore and offshore operations.
Adding a LiDAR for a Full 3D Environment
Although the Accession USV is payload agnostic and fully customer configurable, the standard configuration can also be interfaced with a mobile LiDAR such as the Carlson Merlin laser scanner for mapping terrestrial structures to create a full 3D point cloud above and below water. This is only achievable by using the embedded SBG Inertial Navigation System (INS) which is extremely versatile for both shallow and deeper water regions in either open sky or challenging GNSS environments such as under bridges and tree canopies, or in urban regions where tall buildings often obscure the GNSS horizon. In such situations, the centimetric level RTK position accuracy is greatly improved using SBG’s post-processing software called Qinertia. This PPP and PPK capable software offers single or virtual base station modes and can even incorporate users’ own base station RINEX data.
Read More in the GPS World November 2020 Edition.
Navsight Apogee Marine
Shallow to Deep Water
- 0.008° Roll and Pitch
- 0.01° GNSS Heading (4 m baseline)
- 1 cm + 0.5 ppm in GNSS RTK mode
- 5 cm Heave, 2 cm Delayed Heave
- Post-processing with Qinertia PPK
- Right solution for all hydrographic tasks