Swathe Services, a Hydrographic survey support company in Hayle, Cornwall UK ran the world’s first Multi-Beam Echo- Sounder training course using a remotely operated Unmanned Surface Vessel.
Hydrographic Surveying is usually done with a manned survey vessel and takes many hours to complete. People came from as far afield as Norway, France, Slovenia, UK and the USA to attend the intensive 5-day course.
As part of the training, the delegates mapped Hayle Harbour in Cornwall using an Unmanned Surface Vessel fitted with Multi-beam Echo-Sounder technology. The USV was remotely operated from Swathe Services offices nearby using dedicated survey data acquisition software from HYPACK.
Kordula Schwarzwalder, a Researcher from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, said: “This course is invaluable for me as a researcher as we use these USV’s to map rivers in Norway, so having hands-on training on remotely operating these vessels is very useful. I’ve learnt so much in such a short time.”
Pierre Mezerette from SBG Systems in France, said: “I have been training with HYPACK which is a fantastic software programme for Hydrographic Surveying, and to see the USV operating remotely in the harbour was just amazing. It’s changing the way we survey ports and harbours.”
Managing Director of Swathe Services, James Williams said: “We are proud to be offering a world first right here in Cornwall. We’re the only company to date offering commercial hands-on MBES training using a USV. Our sister company Unmanned Survey Solutions provided the remotely operated Unmanned Surface Vessel for the training and it all worked perfectly.“
“The future of conducting Hydrographic surveys is changing, and we are meeting those changes by offering training using the latest autonomous vessels and innovative MBES technology."
