Inertial Navigation and Underwater Positioning

iXBLUE is a French company specialized in:

  • Inertial positioning for naval, research and scientific applications;
  • Acoustic systems for subsea positioning and navigation.

Featured products:

GAPS – (underwater acoustic navigation system) is a revolutionary system which makes USBL underwater positioning extremely simple to operate from any vessel, using a portable and truly calibration free system, with no compromise on performances.

GAPS is used to determine the position of one or more subsea objects or vehicles which can manoeuvre at depths up to 4,000 meters, with 200deg hemispherical coverage below the antenna, and typically 0.2% accuracy of the range depending on environmental and operational conditions. These objects or vehicles are located using acoustic transponders or beacons and a subsurface acoustic array (GAPS head) typically deployed under water below the ship hull, on a side pole or a buoy.

Features

  • Calibration-free
  • 4,000 m range, accuracy 0.2% of the slant range*, 200 deg coverage
  • All-in-one system, simple to use
  • Provides absolute position as well as surface GPS-robust position

Benefits

  • No mobilization/demobilization: fully operational in less than 1 hour
  • Adapted to all applications: shallow and deep water, and noisy environments
  • Easily transferrable from one vessel to another
  • Robust to acoustic and GPS hazards