New Wave Media

 

Riptide, who recently participated in a US SOCOM effort to evaluate diver assistance aids, integrated a Klein 3500 Combined Side Scan and Interferometric Sonar into a Riptide 1MP 1 Man Portable 7.5” (190mm) diameter UUV/AUV in less than four working days. This rapid integration was followed by successful field demonstrations.

 

According to Riptide, the Klein 3500 is an excellent example of the high-performance sensors that can be easily integrated onto the Riptide UUV/AUV platforms. The combined data set of the 3500 has been shown to increase the Probability of Detection (Pd) for small and difficult targets, providing an effective alternative to the size and complexity of a Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS).

 

In a second situation, Riptide was provided with a µUUV payload section containing an underwater WiFi sensor installed by the instrument manufacturer. Riptide added nose and tail sections to this third party produced payload section and, the vehicle then completed demonstrations of the underwater WiFi in both a pool and offshore operating environments. 

 

Both of these demonstrations highlighted how the Riptide vehicles have been designed specifically for ease in payload integration. This flexibility permits custom payload section lengths to suit specific sensors, as well as increasing payload section diameters through use of the various vehicles in the product line.

 

Riptide’s current product line includes the µUUV, an “A” sized 4.875” (124mm) diameter UUV; the 1MP One Man Portable UUV and the 2 MP Two Man Portable 9.375” (238mm) diameter UUV.  All of these vehicles benefit from this payload flexibility.