Kongsberg 352P MGC R3 USBL System
Portable High Precision Acoustic Positioning
Description
The Kongsberg HiPAP 352P-MGC is a portable acoustic positioning system for tracking ROVs, tow fish, divers and other subsea objects at several thousand metres range. The HiPAP 352P operates in SSBL mode, where it measures the distance and direction to subsea transponders and computes a 3D position in local or geographical coordinates. It is designed for installation on surface vessels or other surface units.
The HiPAP 352P-MGC transducer has a built-in MGC RT inertial measurement unit for roll, pitch and heading compensation, so no calibration is needed to determine roll, pitch and heading alignments. The HiPAP 352P-MGC has a motion sensor accuracy of 0.01° (range ±180°), a total angular accuracy of 0.1° (1 σ), a position accuracy of 0.17 % of slant range (1 σ) and a Cymbal range accuracy of 0.02 m. The receiver beam is 15°, with ±90° operational coverage and ±80° main coverage; within the main coverage the range is up to 5000 m, and operational tests show ranges out to 1000 m at 80° or near the horizontal. Maximum range and angular accuracy apply within the ±80° main coverage sector; outside it, range and elevation angular accuracy are reduced, and depth input for aiding is recommended.
The HiPAP 352P uses the Cymbal acoustic protocol and has full LBL calibration and positioning capability for position box-in, calibration and positioning, with cNODE transponder models for depths down to 4000 m. APOS is the operator station for the HiPAP 352P and provides acoustic positioning and data communication functions. The system can be interfaced to the vessel heading sensor and GNSS system, and data output is available in established formats.
In the system overview, the transducer connects by the transducer cable to an interface unit, which links over Ethernet to a notebook PC or stationary operator station (optional), with an Ethernet switch (optional) and a Responder Driver Unit (optional). The HiPAP 352P transducer is depth rated to 50 m, with a maximum operating temperature of 35 °C in air and water and a storage temperature of −40 to +70 °C. The HiPAP 352P is also available as the 352P-H and 352P-5 models, which have MRU-H or MRU-5 motion sensors for roll and pitch compensation and no heading information.