Unmanned Systems Technology 027 l Hummingbird XRP l Gimbals l UAVs insight l AUVSI report part 2 l O’Neill Power Systems NorEaster l Kratos Defense ATMA l Performance Monitoring l Kongsberg Maritime Sounder

92 Digest | Kongsberg Maritime Sounder is pulled back up and fixed into place with a quick-lock system before a new mission begins. Payload integration “Across our previous unmanned marine vehicles we’ve always seen that every customer has slight differences in the payloads and associated electronics they want to install,” Kristoffersen says. “We’ve therefore tried to keep the Sounder as flexible and agnostic as possible with regard to which payloads can be integrated, while keeping it as easy as possible to change them.” The Sounder therefore comes with a series of four hatches on top of the deck. To enable integration of multiple different payloads between missions – specifically echo sounder-type payloads or others that also need to be submerged in order to produce their imagery – a moonpool is designed from the rear into the second hatch. The moonpool hatch is typically marked with ‘Sounder’ to make it quickly recognisable. It allows remote lowering and raising of payloads into and out of the water, and the moonpool can carry up to 1000 kg of payload. Directly in front of the moonpool payload hatch is a compartment designated for the installation of processors and other critical ancillary equipment for handling payload and other mission data. To that end, a standardised 19 in server rack in the compartment can be lifted in and out to swap electronics modules as needed. “This design aspect is intended to let users change multiple payloads and their important subsystems between missions, perhaps several times in one day if needed, with minimal time spent reconfiguring the system,” Kristoffersen explains. August/September 2019 | Unmanned Systems Technology The hatch design lets users change payloads and subsystems between different missions, perhaps several times in one day The bow of the Sounder USV contains polyurethane foam about 40 to 50 cm thick, compared with about 1.1 cm thickness throughout the rest of the craft The largest hatch atop the USV’s deck covers the moonpool payload bay, and has additional hatches for mission electronics, mooring equipment and so on