The Norwegian ocean-technology company, Kongsberg Discovery, introduces a new analysis tool developed in partnership with underwater imaging specialist Cathx Ocean that radically reduces the time and effort required to detect and classify objects of interest in seabed surveys undertaken by Kongsberg’s market leading HUGIN autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), reducing costs for survey owners and freeing up valuable resources to focus on more important tasks.
Kongsberg HISAS scans of the seafloor contain extensive visual information that requires a highly trained eye to manually detect objects of interest. This time-consuming process ties up valuable resources in sonar image analysis.
Automating the object identification process using the novel SAS Target Assistant provides major workflow benefits in terms of earlier decision-making. The application runs in the background providing consistent and reliable detection, leaving users to focus their mental capacity on the most valuable task of evaluating and classifying the potential objects of interest.
“In conventional survey analysis, the operator has to laboriously play through the scanned image data, tagging then measuring and classifying objects of interest and, finally, building a target list that can be exported. SAS Target Assistant automatically detects and measures objects of interest and creates a target list for review/confirmation, further analysis, and export,” said Adrian Boyle, CEO of Cathx Ocean.
The tool allows users to predefine the desired characteristics (size and shape of objects) they require to rapidly identify targets matching such specifications.
“Leaving the tedious work of initial scanning to the algorithm frees up human personnel to concentrate on more complex, high-value analysis tasks while speeding up the delivery of survey results. With longer-duration AUV missions, as well as increases in the area and frequency of surveys being asked of AUV operators, time literally is money,” Mr Boyle added.
SAS Target Assistant requires no additional window or display/monitor, as it is fully integrated into the Reflection PMA system. “It’s a great example of how machine learning and sensor intelligence can be used to simplify often demanding workflows, reducing the burden on human operators while also producing reliable results according to survey specifications and deadlines,” Sigurd Fjerdingen, VP Products in Kongsberg Discovery, said.
HUGIN AUVs have been successfully deployed for commercial surveys and defence operations worldwide in both shallow and deep water in marine environments ranging from polar to tropical.
The partnership with Cathx Ocean aims to change how these AUV surveys are performed today and into the future. The collaboration serves as blueprint for further co-development initiatives to enhance the HUGIN Open Data Processing ecosystem. “Working with specialist partners is the most efficient way to develop new robust applications that cater to ever-evolving market requirements. By introducing SAS Target Assistant, we can supercharge survey analysis for customers while reinforcing the exemplary operational record of HUGIN vehicles over the last quarter century,” Mr Fjerdingen concluded.
For more information, contact us directly or visit the Kongsberg Discovery stand (D600) at the Oceanology International exhibition in London on 12-14 March.
About Kongsberg Discovery
In a constantly changing market environment, Kongsberg Discovery is serving the ocean space from the deepest sea to the outer space. We know and understand the challenges our customers and the world are facing in the security and sustainability area, as well as efficiency and safety at sea. In terms of security, monitoring critical infrastructure in the ocean space is a crucial activity involving systematic and continuous observation of key assets and facilities, including ports, harbours, bridges, dams, energy production assets and communication cables. Our solutions enable real-time monitoring and early detection and response to anomalies or disturbances underwater, on the surface, and in the air. Together our portfolio of strategically important products, our established global presence and decades of in-house experience make us a trusted technology partner for our customers, and we will continuously work to develop new solutions that are key to understanding the ocean ecosystem as well as solving operational challenges.
For further information, please contact:
Henning Langlete
Director Marketing & Communication
Kongsberg Discovery
Mobile: +47 932 18 600
Email: [email protected]
About Cathx Ocean
Cathx Ocean focus on solving ocean data challenges. The increasing scale and frequency of subsea survey across environmental, commercial and defence markets combined with an increase in demand for autonomous and uncrewed operations, has and will continue to place demands on the organisations tasked with delivery. Access to information at the time of data collection is more critical than ever before. As the pioneer of the most advanced Autonomous subsea optical solutions for visual automation, we have taken our experience and knowledge and applied it to provide solutions for other sensors. In a rapidly changing market environment, we work closely with our customers to address the challenges in collection and processing large amounts of data. We provide technology solutions based on real time sensor intelligence to extract information as efficiently and reliably as possible so that they can focus extracting value for this information. By investing in and driving change in how ocean survey and inspection operations are performed, we will continue to deliver efficiency and scalability for our customers and partners to address their greatest data challenges.
