3D Laser Scanning Services Aid Search For Underwater Plane Wreckage

Company Designs Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

Teledyne Gavia’s autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) proved beneficial in hunting for the wreckage of an aircraft that crashed into pingvallavatn lake in southwest Iceland. This underwater vehicle uses sensors like you would find in 3D laser scanning services.

The business designs each action for the underwater vehicle, which operates autonomously without any physical link to the crew, such as a cable or anything else. This is something that only 3D scanning services can provide and proves useful when searching the depths of water and looking for plane crashes. 

In Kópavogur, Teledyne Gavia presently manufactures three different kinds of autonomous underwater vehicles or items related to 3D laser scanning services. 

Gavia – To begin, the first vehicle, Gavia, was titled after the Latin term for the great northern diver (duck) Gavia immer. This weighs between 60 and 100 kg, depending on the equipment used, and can dive to a depth of 1,000 meters. It can stay underwater for around eight hours with a single battery and up to sixteen hours with several batteries. 

Osprey – Its prototype is complete, and sales will begin shortly. It is much bigger than Gavia and has a maximum diving depth of 2,000 meters. It can carry more sensors and equipment, as well as bigger batteries, than the Gavia, and can stay underwater for an extended period. It weighs between 150 and 400 kg, depending on the equipment. It can stay underwater for 12-14 hours on a single battery and 24 hours on two batteries.

Sea Raptor – It can dive to a depth of 6,000 meters and weighs between 1 and 1.6 tons. It is equipped with a single battery and can remain submerged for up to 45 hours.

Finding the right 3D laser scanning services is crucial to the end result of your project. In this case, a team wanted to ensure that the underwater vehicles they chose would be able to help find the plane that crashed into the water. The best thing about these AUVs is that this company sells its equipment worldwide. So no matter where there is an accident, you can find equipment to help your project or search. 

The decision was taken to conduct the search in pingvallavatn lake using the Gavia AUV. Given the parameters, the smallest AUV conceivable functioned best. A side-scan sonar with a range of about 100 meters on either side of the vehicle was deployed. This type of 3D laser scanning services and equipment can be used for up to 16 hours and go over an area multiple times, collecting vital information. Keep in mind that not all 3D laser scans work underwater, which is another reason to partner with this company because they specialize in underwater machines. 

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