CodaOctopus Products Ltd

The Coda Echoscope is a unique sonar device
Using phased array technology the Echoscope generates over 16,000 beams simultaneously, producing instantaneous three-dimensional sonar images of both moving and stationary objects. Capable of up to 12 updates per second, the co-registered 3D imagery from each ping allows visualisation of the whole underwater environment in real time, enabling extremely rapid reconnaissance and inspection. The 3D aspect allows the high resolution visualisation to be performed from multiple perspectives.

The addition of motion sensor inputs means that the data can be positioned accurately in 3D space and adjacent pings can be used to create mosaics on-line.

Deployment

Compact and portable, the Coda Echoscope sonar system is about the size of a briefcase and can be rapidly deployed on vessels of opportunity or mounted on an ROV or AUV. Suitable for use on almost any vessel with an over the side or bow mounting, it can be easily operated in navigationally restricted environments.

Advantages over Conventional Sonar Systems

Sonar applications are numerous and varied and the Echoscope technology provides significant advantages and benefits over conventional sonar systems.

For users of:

Multibeam echo sounders

Increased survey productivity
With over 16,000 simultaneous beams, the Echoscope acquires all the data required for an inspection task from a single ping. This removes the need to co-register the data using survey positioning and motion sensing equipment and the system can therefore be operated without specialist survey knowledge. A data density 100 times greater than a traditional multibeam echo sounder, combined with the ability to view the same data from multiple angles, allows real time robust filtering of spurious echoes normally associated with multibeam system. This results in far greater detail without the need for post processing.

The system is quickly and easily deployed from small vessels of opportunity or is suitable for bow mounting for inspection in very shallow water or where access is restricted, such as under rigs or in narrow channels. The large overlap between the areas covered by each ping allows very high vessel speeds whilst maintaining 100% coverage.

Sector scan sonars

Improved image quality, coverage and resolution
The Echoscope achieves both excellent angular coverage and excellent vertical and horizontal resolution simultaneously. When deployed looking forward it can acquire accurate range data and create detailed images of the scene with each ping. By contrast high resolution sector scan sonars, as used by ROVs for target imaging in construction and mine warfare applications, have vertical resolutions that are much poorer than their horizontal resolution, making them unsuitable for obtaining range data from a scene as a whole. For conventional sonars, the choice of vertical beam width is always a compromise between sufficient coverage and improved vertical resolution.

In naval visualisation roles the Echoscope provides imagery of sufficiently high quality for the operator to identify a target as potentially harmful or benign at longer ranges than would be feasible with a sector scan sonar.

Underwater video cameras

Reduced down-time in poor visibility
The Echoscope generates high quality data sets even in turbid water, allowing visualisation of the seabed and the subsea workplace in real time. Replacing video cameras and even divers in applications such as underwater construction ensures continued good visualisation of the work environment along with reduced health and safety risks. Intuitive software enables 3D graphic representation of underwater objects.

The Echoscope Underwater Inspection System is the world's first fully integrated 3D sonar system for specialised underwater applications. Click here for more information.