Klein UUV-3500 Successfully Integrated into Riptide 1MP UUV

Klein Marine Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitcham Industries, Inc. announces the successful participation in a US SOCOM industry event in Key West, Florida of a Klein Model 3500 installed in a Riptide Autonomous Solutions 1MP UUV, a 1 Man Portable 7.5” (190mm) diameter Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV), sometimes called an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV).

The intent of this industry event was to evaluate the effectiveness of diver assistance available with different platforms and sensors. The Klein UUV3500 Combined Side Scan and Interferometric Bathymetric Sonar produces very high combined side scan sonar data and interferometric bathymetry data, which when the data sets are merged, produces higher Probability of Detection (Pd) figures for small and difficult to detect targets, providing an effective alternative –particularly on small AUVs- to the size, complexity and motion sensitivity of highly expensive side scan sonar generating synthetic beams (SAS).

This demonstration provided an excellent example of the potential for rapid integration of a high-performance sensor, such as the Klein 3500 Combined Side Scan and Interferometric Sonar, onto a low cost AUV platform, such as the Riptide UUV/AUV platforms.

The Riptide 1MP was successfully launched from shore into the ocean in shallow water, executed a preprogrammed mission and returned to the operator standing on the shore with the propulsion motor stopping exactly as the operator’s position, proving, among other things, Klein transducers’ excellent hydrodynamic performance. It is interesting to notice that the Klein UUV3500 Combined Side Scan and Interferometric Sonar was fully integrated into a Riptide UUV/AUV in less than 4 working days, demonstrating easy-to-integrate features of the UUV3500 architecture (mechanical, electrical and software) and a remarkable cooperation result between the Klein Engineering Integration Team, which supports all integration efforts of new and existing customers, and the Riptide Engineering Team.