Modus Acquires Second Sabertooth HAUV

UK-based underwater vehicle services company Modus Seabed Intervention has agreed with Saab Seaeye to buy its second Sabertooth hybrid autonomous underwater vehicle (HAUV).

The 3,000-meter rated Sabertooth will be equipped with extended autonomous endurance and increased thrust for high speed survey and ready for the integration of advanced and high-resolution sensors for different types of applications and operations.

Modus has been increasing the capability of its HAUV fleet and, following trials in 2017, its existing HAUV was ready for commercial operations in 2018. Trials included launching the HAUV from a quayside close to Saab’s Facility in Sweden to perform a “mow the lawn” style pre-programmed survey collecting multibeam echosounder (MBES), side scan sonar (SSS) and sub-bottom profiler (SBP) data over about 15 kilometers, with no external aiding from a support vessel.

In early 2018, a trial as part of an Innovate UK funded project for wind farm resident inspection performed out of the ORE Catapult facility in Blyth, England, involved indirect power coupling and data transfer using a Blue Logic inductive connector. In the final phase of this demonstrator project, later this year, in between its commercial commitments, Modus will trial a resident HAUV concept at an offshore wind farm in the UK. Read more here.

“We are continuing to bring to market highly differentiated capabilities as we develop not only a fleet of autonomous vehicles but also AI and machine learning methods for integrating data, data visualization, remote vehicle control and mission planning,” Modus CEO Jake Tompkins says.

The Modus vehicle has all the advanced features of Saab’s military hybrid AUV/ROVs, combined with the Saab Seaeye technology that includes iCON intelligent control behavior-based architecture.

Sabertooth is the only roaming and hovering system with 360 degree orientation that can operate in both fully autonomous (AUV) and tethered (ROV) modes, enabling fully flexible dual operations from a single platform.