AquaMap™ Shiphull is the latest addition to our AquaMap™ line. It is optimized specifically for the inspection of ship hulls and other vertical structures such as dams and docks. The system combines our proven acoustic long baseline technology with task-specific software derived from several years of ship hull inspection research for the U.S. Navy and private companies. The system can be used for ROV and tethered diver based operations alike.

AquaMap™ Shiphull responds to the need for rapid system deployment and recovery. System setup requires only the deployment of four baseline stations over the side of the ship, and a quick automated calibration procedure. Setup time ranges from ten to twenty minutes. AquaMap™ Shiphull travels easily. The entire system consists of four small baseline stations and a ROV/diver station that all fit into a single suitcase style carrying case, plus a notebook computer.

AquaMap™ Shiphull provides the surface operator with a starboard, a port and a bottom view of the hull. The system displays all data against the backdrop of a digitized plan of the ship. Several tasks can be accomplished. To show coverage of a hull survey, the system can plot a trace of the ROV or divers movement across the hull. As the survey proceeds the hull is ‘painted’. The operator can also associate annotations with the current position, indicating for example the location of damage to the hull or contraband.

Data from a survey can be exported to other applications for the generation of a survey report. Data is organized in layers such as position data, annotation, ship plan and grid. These layers can be individually selected, and zoom and pan functions are available to quickly generate the desired views of the survey.

AquaMap™ Shiphull increases the quality of survey work, improves data confidence, speeds the survey process and reduces report generation time.

1: Preparation for Survey

Prior to a survey, plans of the ship are obtained and scanned. The operator then identifies and scales the port, starboard and bottom views of the ship by drawing boxes and assigning measures.

2: Setup

Upon arrival at the survey site, the operator defines the location of the four baseline stations. Baseline stations are deployed over the side of the ship to form a rectangle. Two baseline stations are deployed about _ ship length forward of the stern on the port and starboard side, the other two stations are deployed about _ ship length forward of the stern. The baseline stations are lowered over the side of the ship. Magnets near the waterline are used to stabilize the station. The operator registers the setup by calling out baseline station locations. An acoustic baseline survey is conducted immediately following deployment of the diver or ROV. The automatic survey verifies the baseline station placement and issues a warning if a large discrepancy between entered and actual distances is found. AquaMap Shiphull™ is now ready for survey operations.

3: Surveying

AquaMap™ Shiphull may be used for the full inspection of a hull, or to visit select locations. Full hull inspections are generally divided into three portions: The starboard side, port side and bottom inspection. AquaMap™ Shiphull creates a computer view for each portion. As the ROV or diver moves along the ship, the hull is ‘painted’ with a position line. The operator can select the ‘visibility’, which defines the thickness of the line. Better visibility results in a wider line. The survey is completed once the hull is fully ‘painted’. The operator can easily return to any spots that have been missed. Observations such as ship hull condition or contraband can be recorded using the software’s annotation capability. Annotations are automatically position and time stamped.

4: Report Generation

AquaMap™ Shiphull stores all survey data. Following a survey, the software is used to generate ‘views’ of the survey work for the report. The operator can pan and zoom around the ship, and select starboard side, port side or bottom views. The position trace layer, annotation layer and graticule layer can be individually selected for display. Bitmaps of desired survey data views are then generated. These bitmaps can be imported into a survey report. AquaMap™ Shiphull will also export an annotation text file and a position data file.

Positioning Technology: Acoustic long baseline (LBL); RS-485 surface link via ROV/diver umbilical

Accuracy on Side of Ship: Generally +/- 0.15 m to 0.5 m horizontal, +/- 0.3 m vertical

Accuracy on Bottom of Ship: Generally +/- 0.2 m to 1 m horizontal, +/- 0.3 m vertical

Position Update Rate: Less than 3 seconds per position fix

Data Display: Starboard side, port side and bottom view with zoom and pan

Data Layers: Ship Plan, graticule, position trace, and annotations

Data Export: Any desired survey view (BMP file), position data and annotation text files

Video Overlay Support: Real-time output of positioning data through serial interface for video overlay

AM-20: AquaMap™ Shiphull system for ROV or divers. Includes four RBS-1 baseline stations, one VLT-3 ROV/diver station, AquaMap™ Shiphull software, accessories, carrying case

AM-21:
OEM version for ROV and AUV manufacturers. Similar to AM-20, but the VLT-3 station is replaced with a EM-2H electronics module for vehicle internal mounting.

AM-22:
Multi-Purpose ROV & Diver System for military and law enforcement dive teams. This system includes all components necessary for ship hull inspections, precision sea floor surveys, general ROV and diver tracking, diver supervision and training. It can be operated with ROV or divers. The included software supports ship hull work, sea floor operations, GPS integration, chart overlays as well as simple tracking using boat relative coordinates. This configuration operates in both long-baseline (AquaMap) mode for precision surveying and short-baseline (PILOT) mode for operations from boats and docks without baseline station deployment. Includes one STM-10H surface station, one VLT-3H ROV station, one DS-1 diver station, four RBS-1H baseline stations, ShipHul software and DiveBase Level 2 software. The baseline stations can also serve as diver or ROV stations for multi-target tracking.