Submerged Acoustic Navigation System
We have high aspirations for employment of manned and unmanned undersea vehicles. We may one day see undersea habitation for scientific study. Or we may see tens or hundreds of unmanned systems cooperating for scientific exploration. However, before we can embark on those plans, we need to be able to navigate precisely underwater. And, by the way, Waze doesn’t work underwater.
Almost 15 years ago MIKEL began developing a novel technology that allows manned or unmanned vehicles to navigate with near GPS-like accuracy while submerged. Today MIKEL calls that technology the Submerged Acoustic Navigation System (or SANS). SANS has two main components which are a beacon that exists on the ocean bottom to aid in the navigation process and platform-side hardware. MIKEL develops all of the SANS electronics in-house, supports deployment of the SANS system in various locations such as Hawaii and Florida, and develops the SANS software algorithms for precise navigation.
Since our early development of the SANS technology we have added many features to the technology to make it as versatile as possible. For example, the SANS beacon can seamlessly integrate into current Navy tracking ranges to behave like a simple acoustic transponder. SANS also offers the ability to acoustically send information through its beacon to other submerged platforms and expand its operating region through the use of an unlimited number of beacons. SANS truly stands alone in providing unparalleled navigation accuracy and system simplicity. Spend some time to check it out!