Our neighbors here at AUVSI, Bluefin Robotics (booth 4829), announced completion of tests of its HAUV-3 hovering maritime system for a US Navy explosive ordnance detection program.

Bluefin has delivered the first system to the Navy, with the second shipping out in two weeks. Overall, the company will provide Navy PMS 408 in Indian Head, Maryland, three systems, with two HAUV-3s comprising one system. The effort is part of a Navy program of record for the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Hull Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Localization Systems program.

The system, which will be displayed in the maritime demonstration area Tuesday and Wednesday at 10:30, uses a DIDSON imaging sonar and a camera to perform the hull inspections. The Navy tested a series of operational scenarios and environmental tests as part of program.

Before using the HAUV-3, the Navy used remotely operated vehicles and divers to perform hull inspections for explosive ordnance disposal. Unlike other systems, the HAUV-3 requires no mission preplanning to perform this task.

“It navigates relative to the hull, instead of using latitude and longitude,” explains Jerome Vaganay, systems engineer and project manager for Bluefin. “It simplifies mission planning. You can literally plan a dive in five seconds.”

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