To assist divers in detecting and locating targets on the seabed in inshore and port areas (underwater munitions, wrecks, bodies, etc.), the French company RTsys, specialist in underwater acoustic systems, has designed an innovative, non-magnetic portable sonar, called SonaDive.
SonaDive is able to programme and memorise missions. Its advanced navigation system comprises a surface-deployed GPS and a Doppler Velocity Log.
Divers have possibility to send message and to share contacts via UW modem. An optional communication module allows underwater repositioning and transmission of data to the surface.
During tests carried out with bomb disposal divers, SonaDive proved to be easy to use, in particular thanks to its large 12-inch screen and its communication system between two devices or with a touchscreen tablet for a user at the surface.
Following its release just a few months ago, the first SonaDive devices have been delivered to the French Navy, who are convinced of this new system's potential. |