Wave Glider Transceiver

Acoustic modem payload

Engineered for

USV

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Overview

Add capability to your Wave Glider

Wave Glider Transceiver (WGT) is an acoustic transceiver designed to integrate within a Liquid Robotics Wave Glider ASV. It enables wireless data harvesting operations to be conducted with a wide range of our instruments including AMT, Fetch and PIES.

Overview

The WGT functionality enables Wave Glider to acoustically collect data from large arrays of seabed instruments in a highly cost-effective manner without the need to deploy a traditional surface ship to perform this operation. Instead, Wave Glider is controlled remotely from a shore station via Iridium satellite communications.

The WGT is capable to be used with directional transducer options for operating in both Medium Frequency (MF) (20-34 kHz) and Lower Medium Frequency (LMF) (12-20 kHz) bands to suit different seabed instruments and is fully Sonardyne Wideband® 2 compatible.

The WGT is tightly integrated into the Wave Glider vehicle communications and power systems thereby providing many of the standard acoustic commands and features associated with Sonardyne 6G® products.

Data is passed by Wave Glider to the Iridium satellite system for onwards transmission to the user in near real time.

At a glance

Custom engineered for a Wave Glider standard aft payload space
Provides subsea-surface-shore gateway link for Sonardyne long endurance sensors
Enables direct remote data collection on demand, monitoring and control from shore based Wave Glider operations centre
Integrated acoustic modem with data rates from 100 to 9,000 bps

Specifications table

Feature	Type 8297-010-05 (WGT Module)	Type 8297-010-04 (GPS-A Module)
Operating frequency	MF (20–34 kHz)	MF (20-34 kHz)
Transducer beam shape	Directional	Directional
Transmit source level (dB re 1 µPa @ 1 m)	190–202 dB (4 levels)	190–202 dB (4 levels)
Tone equivalent energy (TEE)	196–208 dB	196–208 dB
Receive sensitivity (dB re 1 µPa)	90–120 dB (7 levels)	90–120 dB (7 levels)
Acoustic modem data rates	100-9,000 bps (6 levels)	100-9,000 bps (6 levels)
Dimensions (length x width x height)	412 x 389 x 205 mm	412 x 389 x 205 mm (standard Liquid Robotics 3 MPU)
Weight in air/water	10.4/-15 kg	10.4/-15 kg
Operating temperature	-10 to 45°C	-10 to 45°C
Storage temperature	-20 to 55°C	-20 to 55°C
Internal backup battery for acoustic modem	Rechargeable Li-ion (2.2 Ah)	Rechargeable Li-ion (2.2 Ah)
Satellite communications	Iridium RUDICS (2,400 bps)	Iridium RUDICS (2,400 bps)
GNSS receiver	–	Survey grade L1 & L2 receiver: Novatel OEM7720 series (GNSS derived heading)
AHRS device	–	XSENS MTi-300 and/or EPSON G320 SPAN INS
Ranging clock	–	GPS derived 4 MHz pulse conditioned to 8 MHz
Communication and logging: Communications	–	Wi-Fi, RS232 transceiver, RJ45 Ethernet, dedicated power and comms for GNSS and HRP, single RS232 expansion port with 5 V power pass through
Communication and logging: Internal logging		128 GB dual redundant internal memory; RINEX GNSS logging; SPAN INS logging
System components	WGT Module Wave Glider Payload; 4 m Remote Transducer; Wave Glider Transducer Compatible Skeg	GPS-A Module Wave Glider Payload; 4 m Remote Transducer; Wave Glider Transducer Compatible Skeg