Our firm uses a single beam sonar for small bathymetric jobs. We have one job where the pilot must be certified to get near a specific structure. Unfortunately the lone qualified pilot is dealing with Covid and won't be in for a while.
The owner of the structure will allow a small unmanned watercraft in the restricted zone. We had been pricing them but really didn't look hard yet. Now we have to pull the trigger in under a week. This will need to support a Sonarmite/R12i combo.
First and foremost, are there any words of wisdom (or good-natured heckling) from experienced pilots of such devices? Comments of either type that can be used in a staff meeting will be appreciated. Second, does anyone know of a reputable dealer near Boise, ID?
TIA, Tom
Thinking outside the square here, could you remotely control your normal vessel, like pull it around with some ropes? Would operating it unpowered "declassify" it?
Here is the setup I have. I got it from Tim Tamplin at Bathylogger. If you get the autopilot upgrade you can program in a "flight plan" and it will generate nice straight lines.
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Here are the results of a small dredging project using the setup.
I don't know much about that line of surveying but I've followed several conversations on the topic and based on what I have read in the past, if your going to pull the trigger on purchasing the equipment, it's importand to know what kind to currents and wind conditions the boat is capable of handeling.?ÿ There a huge difference between lakes and streams versus navigable rivers.
@richard-imrie We typically use a 6 person zodiak. Not sure I want to rig that up in a current. lol
@antcrook That is real close to what we are looking for. Thanks
@chris-bouffard Appreciate the tip. We bought a manned craft for our faster/bigger jobs. This is in current and we won't purchase anything not 'over-engineered'. I'm hoping to set this up for a pilot to control and an i-man to keep up with the data side. The river is slow but full of obstacles. Should be fun...
@dmyhill thank you for the link. I'll have to decide wether to rent and learn, or use the opportunity to leverage a purchase????
Thankfully that's a joke. Amazing support in this job..
@antcrook?ÿ ?ÿvery cool!?ÿ ?ÿ I looked into something like that but decided that curious alligators would be too much of a risk to that investment.?ÿ?ÿ
@thebionicman like I said, bathometric is something I have no experience in, just wanted to share some considerations I have read from other comments.
Let us know how things go on this project, I always like learning new stuff!
How far apart were the shots and the distance between the sounding lines? Great post. ?????ÿ
I've used a Hydrone that looks similar to the other unmanned rig above.?ÿ We did not have a setup that could follow preprogrammed lines and came to regret it.?ÿ Don't know about the Bathycat, but the Hydrone has two throttle sticks that independently control each thruster.?ÿ We used it on really slow stuff with little current and few obstacles.?ÿ On anything with obstacles, it was a rodeo.?ÿ We tried roping it off and that was a bigger mess.?ÿ Heard of others hooking on to it with a heavy duty fishing rod with some success.?ÿ ?ÿ
This is not useful for your needs, but for 9/10 of the unsophisticated hydro tasks I do I like a small inflatable and small outboard operated by someone who has a bunch of experience in a boat and a partner who can tilt an echosounder pole rig in and out.?ÿ ?ÿ ?ÿ
How far apart were the shots and the distance between the sounding lines? Great post. ?????ÿ
5m grid should be your go to standard.
I've used a Hydrone that looks similar to the other unmanned rig above.?ÿ We did not have a setup that could follow preprogrammed lines and came to regret it.?ÿ Don't know about the Bathycat, but the Hydrone has two throttle sticks that independently control each thruster.?ÿ We used it on really slow stuff with little current and few obstacles.?ÿ On anything with obstacles, it was a rodeo.?ÿ We tried roping it off and that was a bigger mess.?ÿ Heard of others hooking on to it with a heavy duty fishing rod with some success.?ÿ ?ÿ
This is not useful for your needs, but for 9/10 of the unsophisticated hydro tasks I do I like a small inflatable and small outboard operated by someone who has a bunch of experience in a boat and a partner who can tilt an echosounder pole rig in and out.?ÿ ?ÿ ?ÿ
The specs for the Bathylogger say its able to do 11 knots. I'm weary of walking the nautical gangplank but 11 knots is probably well above its hull speed and would imply that it's planing. A service speed of around 2 knots is more likely but 11 knot capability could indicate it has power to burn, in case of a situation.
@flga-2-2 The lines are ?ñ30 feet apart with a collection rate of 0.5 Hz.
@said-lot I put together an ArduPilot setup to help with the autonomous lines.?ÿ
@antcrook Hi.?ÿ I've been considering this for a bit and you are the 1st person I've seen that has one.?ÿ Can you provide any detail on the learning curve to get this up and running.?ÿ I have little to no bathy experience short of waiters and a range pool.?ÿ Thanks in advance.
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- Jim
@james-hanley-pe We run the Sonar-Mite by Seafloor Systems. They are basic single beam and fairly bulletproof. The key is to have your control proofed and all coordinate system details worked out prior to doing the bathymetric work. The data does not generally reprocess well.
Training and setup are simple. Like anything you have to do checks and build redundancy into your work flow. Occasional bad returns creep in.
I will try to remember to post again after we try the BathyCat. Taking the manned boat out of the equation will be nice...