Description
The APACHE 4 is an Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) that supports a wide variety of Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) systems available on the market. It offers an unmanned operation solution with a shallow draft, high navigational accuracy, and stable hovering for hydrologists when measuring water flow velocity and discharge of a current section. Very compact, it enables easy handling at the mission site, facilitates safe launching, and convenient transportation by car.
The APACHE 4 USV brings together the best of high-accuracy positioning and automated navigation control technology built around the operator’s habits when conducting ADCP hydrographic cross[1]section flow measurements. The built-in adaptive water flow and hovering navigation technology significantly improve the accuracy of flow estimation. Even when GNSS positioning might be degraded by the obstructed environment, the internal GNSS+IMU module continues to provide a reliable position and heading for the ADCP and autopilot controller.
The APACHE 4 is a perfect solution for obtaining high-quality data for flow and velocity measurements in water where manned boat access is impractical, such as in front of dam structures, or where safety is a concern, such as during flood level measurements.
Additionally to the standard package that includes the remote control boat, single beam echosounder, and GNSS IMU sensor, the Apache 4 USV can be equipped and delivered with the Teledyne Riverray or Riverpro, Sontek M9 or ROWE Seaprofiler ADCP for water discharge management, and with the CHCNAV’s sidescan module used for the underwater object detection, or with the CHCNAV’s water quality assessment sensor to measure water quality parameters. The obtained data can be effectively used by researchers and engineers.
