Kongsberg Maritime has launched the HiPAP 602 ultra deepwater SSBL positioning tool, designed specifically to provide extreme range (up to 7,000 metres) and accuracy for positioning ROVs and AUVs, and to operate as a DP reference.
The HiPAP 602 shares its modular construction principles with its sister product, the HiPAP 502 acoustic underwater positioning and navigation system.
It replaces the spherical transducer used by the HiPAP 502 with a large-diameter, multi-element planar array combined with electronic beam forming and ‘unique’ signal processing techniques.
This enables narrow transmitter and receiver beams to be generated in all directions within the lower half of the transducer, giving the HiPAP 602 high accuracy and long-range capabilities in a cone directly below the unit, Kongsberg explains and adds that this makes it well suited for deep water operation, especially seabed mining.
“The HiPAP 602 should not be seen as an upgrade of the 502,” says Jan Erik Faugstadmo, product line manager, Kongsberg Maritime. “The two complement one another: the HiPAP 602 is ideally suited to high accuracy operation at extreme depths in a conical zone below the transducer. Outside of those circumstances, the 502 will still be the system of choice. The 602 will be of particular use in contexts such as deep-water drilling, research, deep water AUV positioning and deep-sea mining, adding even more versatility to the HiPAP range which has already proven indispensable in a broad variety of subsea applications.”