Teledyne Marine autonomously surveys DEEP's quarry lake in Wye Valley

Teledyne Marine joined forces with Maritime Robotics and DEEP to survey DEEP's quarry lake, affectionately referred to as Loch Lye, in the Wye Valley.

The team deployed the latest survey equipment mounted on a Maritime Robotics Otter Pro vessel, including a Teledyne RESON SeaBat T51 (800 kHz) multi beam sonar with integrated inertial navigation, paired with a Teledyne Valeport SWiFT profiler. 

Loch Lyr serves as the centerpiece of the DEEP campus, a facility spanning 50 acres. The former National Dive Center offers environment for testing subsea equipment, developing methodologies, and training personnel in controlled conditions. The lock stretches 500 meters in length, up to 125 meters in width, and plunges to 80 meters deep.

The SeaBat T51's controls were tailored for autonomous operations to map the quarry, while the SWiFT profiler complemented the system by providing critical environmental data, such as temperature, sound velocity, and depth, to correct multibeam readings. An onboard winch enabled remote deployment, and near real-time profiler data was accessible via smartphone for immediate quality control.

The electric Otter Pro vessel, launched via crane, operated both locally and remotely. During surveyor breaks, operators in Norway controlled the vessel through satellite communications, leveraging its onboard cameras and collision avoidance radar to navigate autonomously. The survey produced high-quality data, covering nearly the entire body of water in a single pass.