First Contract for Kongsberg’s HUGIN Superior

Kongsberg Maritime has signed the first contract for the new HUGIN Superior 6000-meter rated AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle).

HUGIN Superior was introduced to the market in December 2018 and, according to Kongsberg, provides enhanced data, positioning and endurance capabilities while building on the proven track record of the HUGIN AUVs.

The complete AUV system will be delivered in DNV certified offshore containers along with a portable version of Kongsberg’s HiPAP 502 acoustic positioning system for easy mobilization onboard vessels of opportunity.

The HUGIN Superior is equipped with the new HISAS 1032 Dual Receiver interferometric synthetic aperture sonar (SAS), which doubles the area coverage rate of previous systems and provides high resolution imagery and bathymetry data products. A redesigned processing toolchain reduces the time-to-data and provides full featured in mission processing capabilities. The AUV system also includes the de facto industry standard EM 2040 mkII multibeam echo sounder along with the latest generation of sensors for sub bottom profiling, optical imaging, laser profiling, magnetic sensing and water turbidity sensing. All payload and navigation data are stored on a swappable network attached storage (NAS) device with 10 gigabit Ethernet connectivity for the fastest possible access to the data after the mission.

A new feature introduced with the HUGIN Superior is the possibility to use the HISAS synthetic aperture sonar as a navigation aiding sensor to greatly improve the autonomous navigation performance. Developed in close collaboration with the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), the HUGIN Superior applies sophisticated signal processing algorithms to extract velocity information from the sonar data in real time. Used as an aiding input to the inertial navigation system this provides unmatched autonomous navigation performance.

“HUGIN Superior was designed to be the most advanced and capable AUV commercially available and we are proud to work with customers who share our desire to expand the boundaries of autonomous underwater technology,” Kongsberg said in a press release.