Tokyo, (Nov 2013) Japan ASV engineers travelled to Tohoku University in Japan to hand over C-Stat 2, the first autonomous mobile station keeping buoy. Designed and developed by ASV, the buoy will be used by the University to help predict earthquakes off the Japanese coast. The C-Stat hull is made of aluminium with a PU coated closed cell foam fender and is powered by a hybrid diesel-electric drive system. An integral fuel tank provides an endurance of four and a half days in currents of up to 3.5knots and over 20 days in lower speed currents such as 1.5-2 knots.
The vessel can be controlled by a UHF data link for line of site control or a satellite link for global control. The portable control console comes with a hand held controller for close quarters manoeuvring when launching and retrieving alongside a ship or harbour wall.
“This has been a very exciting project for ASV and a fantastic opportunity to work with Tohoku University,” commented Dan Hook, ASV Managing Director. “We are looking forward to further developments of the product with versions for both the Oil and Gas and Military markets.”
About ASV
Formed in 1998 ASV provides rugged, reliable and effective unmanned systems using cutting edge marine technology. ASV is based near Portsmouth in the United Kingdom. ASV Ltd is a UK company and part of Global Fusion, a privately owned international marine services group based in Lafayette, Louisiana, USA. The Global Fusion family of companies provide a range of marine services including offshore positioning, survey, geoscience, and autonomous marine vehicle services worldwide. www.asvglobal.com