Kraken Concludes Successful Sea Trials of SeaVision, Underwater Laser Imaging System

SeaVision Is The World’s First Ultra-High Resolution RGB Underwater Laser Imaging System That That Delivers Full Color 3D Point Cloud Images Of Subsea Infrastructure With Millimetre Accuracy In Real-Time

Kraken Robotics Inc, is pleased to announce that its German subsidiary, Kraken Robotik GmbH has successfully concluded sea trials with its innovative SeaVision 3D underwater laser imaging system and is presenting results at Oceanology International in London, Stand E400.

SeaVision is the world’s first ultra-high resolution RGB underwater laser imaging system that that delivers full colour 3D point cloud images of subsea infrastructure with millimetre accuracy in real-time. The initial system is designed for deployment on underwater robotic platforms such as Remotely Operated Vehicles and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles.

Kraken has concluded multiple test campaigns with the system, including a trial in the Baltic Sea earlier this year. “I am really pleased with the results of the tests, and the attention we have been receiving across a wide range of industries,” said Dr. Jakob Schwendner, Managing Director of Kraken Robotik GmbH. “SeaVision is applicable to a wide range of applications across multiple industry sectors, including offshore wind, oil & gas, nuclear, military and ocean science. Kraken has started commercial manufacturing of SeaVision to conduct a series field evaluation trials with customers to further improve application specific performance.”

SeaVision is the world’s first RGB underwater laser imaging system that offers the resolution, range and scan rate to deliver dense full colour 3D point cloud images of subsea infrastructure with millimetre accuracy in real time. It operates in a twin pod configuration with each pod having three steerable laser lines, camera and LED lights producing high-resolution point clouds in unprecedented scan speed and co-registered video data. The concentrated light source provides greater visibility even in high turbidity.

Equipped with a high-resolution camera and laser, the system allows operators to reconstruct objects on the seabed in such a way that detailed models can be subsequently produced for 3D visualization. Its 3D imaging capabilities include generation of geo-registered “as-built” models of structures on the seabed or in the water column, survey of subsea infrastructure and comparison against baseline models and detection of structural defects or other out-of-spec conditions that exceed threshold values.

The ability to generate accurate 3D reconstruction of underwater infrastructure is an important requirement for commercial, military and ocean research applications. While sonar is the technology of choice for covering large areas, 3D laser systems such as Kraken’s SeaVision® provide significantly higher resolution and accuracy at inspection ranges of under 10 metres.

SeaVision uses a full colour laser scanning process that is repeated thousands of times per second to generate coordinate values of millions of points on a reflected surface. The coordinates and intensity associated with each reflected laser pulse are processed in real time to generate an ultra high-resolution point cloud. SeaVision® produces over 800,000 colored points per second and can reconstruct a 3D object in real-time with typical spatial accuracy of better than 2 millimetres. These datasets can be used to create highly detailed models for 3D visualization, artificial intelligence and predictive analytics.

Kraken Robotics Inc is a marine technology company dedicated to the production and sale of software-centric sensors and underwater robotic systems. The company is headquartered in St. John’s, Newfoundland with offices in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia; Bremen, Germany; and Fairfax, Virginia.