Canadian manufacturer, Knudsen Engineering, recently supplied the critical mission sensor – a Sounder 1600 “headless” singlebeam echosounder – to an AUV owned and operated by Natural Resources Canada.
The Knudsen system, installed on an ISE Explorer AUV, was used on an arctic survey mission in support of Canada’s program to define the continental shelf under Article 76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Sounder system configured at 118kHz, for the autonomous arctic sensor application, provides digital depth readings of the ocean floor in support of the Explorer’s mission to gather hydrographic data.
Knudsen echosounders – a familiar face in harsh arctic research projects – also provide sensor support to other arctic applications including Canadian Hydrographic Service thru-ice operations, and several low frequency sub-bottom installations on icebreaker vessels.