French catamaran USV for inland waters
CAT-Surveyor, a new battery powered catamaran-type drone with a payload of 80kg and either tele-operated or automatic navigation modes, has been developed by Marseille based Subsea Tech.
Designed as an integrated solution for harbour, inland water and coastal surveillance operations with a maximum speed of five knots, applications over depths down to 100m include bathymetry, 3D reconstructions, object research, environmental studies, surface and underwater surveillance.
Featuring open architecture and high speed PC to PC communication, the craft allows for simple integration and deployment of mission-specific facilities such as video cameras, sidescan and multibeam sonars, acoustic cameras, sediment sounders, magnetometers and physio-chemical sensors. Deployment of a mini-ROV, high-definition cameras and imaging sonars for turbid waters are included as options. Among other facilities is an onshore power station for visualisation and real-time control of all embedded software elements via a Wi-Fi link.
Among first users of the semi-autonomous, transportable system is the French Ministry of Defence for mine-detection and clearance operations. Meanwhile, Subsea Tech’s sales and marketing manager Katharina Roespel is looking for a possible UK distributor for the vehicle, which has a quoted price tag of around €85,000.
