Teledyne Webb Analysis introduced the launch of its latest autonomous underwater automobile (AUV), the Slocum Sentinel Glider, set to debut at Oceanology Worldwide (OI) in London in March 2024.
Designed for oceanographic monitoring throughout myriad purposes, the brand new AUV expands the capabilities and endurance of the automobile by constructing on the know-how of Teledyne Webb Analysis’s Slocum G3 Glider, providing larger endurance and payload functionality.
The Slocum Sentinel Glider scales the usual Slocum Glider via an elevated diameter and size – 13 inches in diameter and over 8 ft lengthy. This expanded measurement permits the Sentinel to carry over 3.5 occasions as many lithium major batteries as the usual Slocum Glider and to accommodate as much as eight completely different sensor or {hardware} integrations.
“The scale of the Sentinel provides it the power capability to extend mission size to over two years, or customers can match extra high-energy sensors like lively or passive acoustics, sensors with on-board processing, and imaging, with out seeing a major lower of their general mission size,” stated Shea Quinn, Slocum Glider Product Line Supervisor at TWR.
The Sentinel can be pushed by the trade’s largest buoyancy engine, with a volumetric capability of 4 liters – greater than double that of some other glider buoyancy engine. This affords the Sentinel a normal glide velocity of 0.75 knots. It options twin thrusters on the aft of the automobile, which customers can select to activate for a dash velocity of as much as 3.5 knots.
“The Sentinel is the world’s quickest glider – its buoyancy engine is massive sufficient to take care of drastic density adjustments within the water column, and its thrusters give it the power to remain on observe in sturdy currents or different troublesome ocean circumstances,” Quinn stated.
The Sentinel makes use of the established piloting, flight management and communications structure of the Slocum Glider and permits for a similar sensor and {hardware} choices because the standard-sized automobile.
“We’re excited to deliver this new product and functionality to our clients,” stated Dan Shropshire, Vice President of Enterprise Growth for Teledyne Marine Automobiles, “The Sentinel represents the subsequent era in persistent ocean monitoring, and its options develop operational alternatives for our clients.”
