The Hydrographic Society

UK North West Regional Meeting

January 19, 2012, Liverpool

David Cunningham

General Manager, iXBlue Ltd

An update on iXBlue with focus on

recent developments and experiences

in the hydrographic and offshore

survey sector

3

iXBlue Origin and History

iXBlue Divisional Activity

Recent Product Developments

Case studies

Content

4

History in brief....

iXSea formed in 2000

Spin-off from fiber gyro activity of Photonetics

during acquisition by Danish group GN-Nettest

Photonetics grew from 1970’s specialised in

fiber optic telecom test instrument activity

iXCore group founded in 2000 by Herve

Arditty, former founder of Photonetics

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Early strategy and growth

Develop products from unique Fiber Gyro

Technology for civilian marine applications

Acquire acoustic and other know-how to

supplement product offering for civilian markets

Penetrate military markets once established

Evolved to iXBlue in 2010

Combined Turnover 2010 : 90 M€

Total number of employees : 500+

6

iXBlue Companies

8

iXBlue Operational Divisions

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Worldwide presence

10 Inertial Products Division

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Inertial Products Division – Surface

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Hydrographic Survey INS – HYDRINS

Positioning and

motion compensation

for multibeam survey

Delivering highest

accuracy attitude and

heading

Advanced heave

Post processing Bibby Tethra, Osiris Projects

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Subsea – Defence – Submarine Navigation

MARINS

1 NM / 24hours INS

HMS Audacious

4th Astute Class SSN

In build at Barrow

In service date 2014

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QUADRANS – NEW solid state gyrocompass

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Inertial Products Division – Subsea

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AUV Polar Navigation – PHINS in the Arctic

Under Ice @ 86°N

PHINS / DVL successfully

navigated autonomously

450km

New alignment procedure

developed. Achieves 0.1°

heading accuracy even at

this high latitude.

18 Acoustic Products Division – Positioning

19 Acoustic Products Division – Beacons & Releases

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Tow Fish Tracking – GAPS / ROVINS

Tow-Fish tracking

Real-Time absolute

positioning

High accuracy to filter

duplicated targets in

Side-Scan Sonar data

Time savings in

processing workflow

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Tow Fish Tracking – GAPS / ROVINS

Acoustic position filtered by ROVINS

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Tow Fish Tracking – GAPS / ROVINS

Largest distance between the same feature

from 4 different survey lines = 0.68m

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Subsea Metrology – PHINS DVL RAMSES

New subsea metrology method

Dramatic savings in vessel’s time

Measure with high

accuracy distance and

orientations

Manufacture pipe

section to connect

25

MANIFOLD

PLEM/PLET (pipeline end manifold /

pipeline end termination)

Expected performance

Slant distance @ 10cm

Attitude (angles) @ 0.1deg

Subsea Metrology – PHINS DVL RAMSES

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LBL current baseline standard

NEW inertial/acoustic method:

PHINS/DVL + RAMSES

SLAM algorithm determines

relative position each end.

Massive saving in vessel time

No equipment permanently

deployed

Subsea Metrology – PHINS DVL RAMSES

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Subsea Metrology – PHINS DVL RAMSES

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Connector 1 Connector 2

Subsea Metrology – PHINS DVL RAMSES

30 Sonar Systems Division

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DELPH – Multi Sensor Processing

Seismic / SBP

Side-Scan Sonar

Magnetometer /

Gradiometer

Bathymetry

3D Spatial Data Integration

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DELPH – Multi Sensor Processing

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Sub-Bottom Profilers

ECHOES Product Line

ECHOES 1500

ECHOES 3500

ECHOES 5000

ECHOES 10000

Custom solutions

A.U.V. Deep Tow Communication

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SAMS – DT6000

1500m FULL swath up to 2 knots, .ie. More than 125km²/day

Constant 50cm resolution on the swath

Up to 6000m water Depth

Multi beam Gap filler sonar

Georeferenced Images thanks to : PHINS, DVL, Podisonia

Instantanous results via ethernet with any openGIS viewer

Web User Interface : Easy ’Click and See’ Use

Available either in kit, tow fish, or fully integrated solution with Tow Cable and Winch

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Integrated Systems Division

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Marine Works Division

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Current project – ANDRE MALRAUX

Built by H2X, for Marine Archaeology Research

Department, of French Ministry of Culture. Specifications :

Length : 36m

Max beam : 8,85m

Displacement : <300 T

Draft : 2,90m

Max speed : 13 knots

Launched Q4 2011

Delivery Q2 2012

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Future project – Hydrographic Research

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iXBlue Summary

Organized in 8 business areas, iXBlue is an

independent group able to combine exceptional

technologies, products, systems and services from

across its subsidiaries to provide unique solutions

that fit your business requirements and focus on

rapidly delivering your strategic outcomes.

www.ixblue.com