Southampton University opt for PicoTech Multibeam Sonar USV with BeamworX

February 06, 2021

Geodesea Ltd is proud to announce the delivery of a Picotech Ltd PicoCAT USV with PicoPod Multibeam sonar payload (Pico MB-130, integrated Applanix POSMV SurfMaster, PC & AutoPilot) to the Environmental Sensing @ Southampton facility at the University of Southampton.

PicoPOD is a turnkey multibeam package to power-up your existing USV for autonomous multibeam surveys. PicoPOD has a simple mechanical interface and free open-source autopilot. Supported by industry standard acquisition and processing software, BeamworX®, EIVA NaviSuite®, Xylem HYPACK®, Teledyne PDS® and QPS QINSy®.

BeamworX software (NavAQ/AutoPatch/AutoClean) is bundled into a single suite; each program can work completely stand-alone due to the flexible imports and exports. But together they form a powerful toolkit for for acquiring, calibrating and (re)processing Multibeam Echosounder Data. The University of Southampton is the latest UK university to adopt BeamworX as part of its software portfolio for undertaking research and educating the next generation of multibeam users!

Dr Julian Leyland, Associate Professor in the School of Geography and Environmental Science, and director of ES@S (www.esas.soton.ac.uk) said “The PicoCAT and PicoPod setup offer us a unique capability for autonomous survey in riverine and coastal settings. Integration of one of our VLP-16 puck Lidar units on the vessel will further enhance our capabilities and allow coincident above and below water monitoring. The equipment will underpin our world-leading research and teaching which seeks to better understand environmental change in these complex systems. Geodesea and Picotech combined to offer us a bespoke unit and superb support, from ordering to delivery and testing.”