CEE HydroSystems USA Launch CEE-USV Remotely-Operated Hydrographic Survey Boat

With a new purposeful looking remotely-operated hydrographic survey boat package, CEE HydroSystems USA has added a factory-option USV to their shallow water bathymetry product line.

Summarizing the approach to the new CEE-USV™ survey boat, Adrian McDonald of CEE said “If you want a science project – don’t buy this USV”, referring to the new 1.9m high performance survey vehicle and single beam echo sounder combination. “With a design aimed to minimize the requirement for specific system expertise, our main goal was to make the USV as simple to operate as possible without compromising data quality”. The key to the CEE approach is to bring all the separate components together; instead of multiple components cabled and connected, the CEE-USV has a single data module presenting a simple user interface. On the final ingredient, McDonald added “and it had to look cool. What we really mean by that is promoting credibility and professionalism when out in action at a client site.”

CEE HydroSystems has supplied single beam bathymetry solutions for customers using small USVs since 2011. With the addition of the CEE-USV, the benefits of the company’s latest-generation compact CEESCOPE™ echo sounder and positioning systems are realized in combination with a leading survey vehicle from manufacturer HR Wallingford. The CEE package offers a high performance unmanned solution for shallow water inshore surveying; with a dedicated high bandwidth radio link, single beam sonar, positioning data, HD video, and ancillary sensor data is automatically telemetered to the shore station for acquisition using software such as HYPACK®.

The vehicle’s unique removable bow section promotes portability without sacrificing speed and efficiency. Dual independent motors with separate rudders provide significant redundancy benefits for trouble-free field deployments. The CEESCOPE sonar and positioning package can be quickly removed for use on a manned boat, another key feature of the CEE design.