Kongsberg Maritime has launched the HUGIN Superior AUV system with enhanced data, positioning and endurance capabilities for subsea survey operations for commercial, government and naval users.

Leveraging and improving on the power of the standard HUGIN technology platform and the company’s experience in maritime autonomy since it pioneered dynamic positioning in the 1970’s, Kongsberg Maritime has created a new AUV generation that prioritizes data quality.

The HUGIN Superior platform packages the latest technologies into one system, delivering twice the area. It is equipped with the new HISAS 1032 dual receiver synthetic aperture sonar (SAS), which generates an approximately 1,000-m swath at 2.5 kt. for SAS imagery, real aperture and SAS bathymetry, with consistent resolution over the entire swath (typically 5×5 cm in mission imagery). The system also features the EM2040 mk II multibeam.

Configurable for diverse applications, the AUV’s data suite has upgraded SAS processing, sidescan sonar imagery, bathymetry, sub-bottom profiler, camera, laser, magnetometer, turbidity and diverse environmental sensors for methane and CO2 measurement. The new HUGIN can be used for field development surveys and pipeline inspection as well as for environmental monitoring or wreck searches.

The HUGIN Superior uses sophisticated positioning technology, with in-mission standard navigation rated twice as effective as other AUV platforms, including current HUGIN models. The HUGIN Superior also comes with a 30% increase in energy capacity on board without changing form factor or size. With increased mission endurance, the extra power available can also be used to add more sensors, increasing productive survey time and contributing to reduced OPEX. —Kongsberg Maritime