OceanServer Technology announced today that it has received purchase orders for 12 new Iver2 AUVs from seven different customers during the last two months. Vehicle orders span four different defense related applications with the majority of these vehicles going to overseas customers. Research related vehicles will be delivered to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI), University of Michigan, YSI Environmental and the US Naval Research Laboratory. The University of Michigan will be taking delivery of their third Iver2 AUV, which will be primarily used for benthic mapping and water quality monitoring in several EPA-designated “areas of concern” in and around the Great Lakes. OceanServer expects to deliver all of the vehicles by the middle of the first quarter in 2011.
The Iver Platform
All Iver2 AUV models come standard with OceanServer’s VectorMap Mission Planning and Data Presentation tool, which provides geo-registered data files that can be easily exported to other software analysis tools. This unique AUV design has enabled OceanServer to carve out a very strong position in the research space for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, sensors and behavioral studies. The VectorMap program can input NOAA ENCs or any geo-referenced charts, maps or photo images, allowing the operator to intuitively develop AUV missions using simple point-and-click navigation.
The base vehicle, with a starting price at just over $50,000 USD, gives university, government and commercial users an affordable base-platform for sensor development or survey applications in water quality, sub-surface security and general research.