A French drone developer is introducing an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) that it said can match the performance of high-end systems at a third of the price.
The RAVEN AUV from Lorient-based Seaber only weighs 13 kilograms (29 pounds) and can be deployed and recovered by a single operator.
At its core lies the LYNX optical inertial navigation system, which the company said keeps it within roughly 2 meters (7 feet) of its true position for every kilometer traveled.
A Doppler velocity sensor complements the system by measuring the AUV’s speed over the seabed.
Before submerging, RAVEN uses a dual-antenna satellite navigation receiver to establish its position. The receiver is reportedly resistant to jamming, allowing the vehicle to operate in GPS-denied environments.
Two Options for Underwater Detection
RAVEN comes in two configurations tailored to different underwater tasks.
One features an integrated magnetometer that detects submerged metallic objects, including sea mines, unexploded bombs, and partially buried threats that conventional sonar can struggle to identify.
The second variant carries a high-resolution camera and 24,000-lumen lighting system for close-up inspections of underwater objects.
In minehunting operations, these capabilities can help naval teams distinguish explosives from other objects on the seabed, including pipelines, cables, and ship hulls.
