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FarSounder’s advanced 3D forward-looking sonar
technology provides vessels with a real-time
underwater view that enhances situational
awareness. Unlike sonars that offer one or two-
dimensional data, FarSounder’s Argos FLS series
delivers a clear, three-dimensional picture of what
lies ahead.
Established over 20 years ago, the original
motivation was to provide the maritime industry with
a tool to help vessels avoid collisions with
underwater obstacles that cause harmful impacts to
marine life such as whale strikes and oil spills.
“Many sectors of the marine industry travel to
remote places where there is a high risk of unreliable
or non-existent charts,” said a spokesman. “Not only
can Argos help by showing the user the seafloor, but
it can also detect obstacles in the water column such
as whales, coral reefs, ice, shipping containers, and
other debris well in advance. This helps vessels
maintain smooth operations without incident.”
The system also stores bathymetric data everywhere
the vessel travels. This is referred to as Local History
Mapping. When the ship returns to a location, the
software will display the seafloor data collected from
the previous voyage. This feature is extremely useful
for tasks like anchor surveys or route planning.
Users can opt-in to anonymously uploading their
stored bathymetry data to the cloud and receiving
an aggregate map of seafloor data collected by
other Argos users across the FarSounder Fleet.
FarSounder has partnered with global ocean
mapping initiatives like Seabed 2030 allowing
Argos users to make citizen scientific contributions
and improve hydrographic information using the
seafloor data they collect.
One sector, in particular, looking for technology to
provide a solution to navigation safety is Uncrewed
Surface Vessels (USV) and Autonomous Surface
Vessels (ASV).
FarSounder’s Argos 3D FLS plays a critical role in
enhancing the situational awareness and
operational capabilities of these vessels. All Argos
sonars feature a machine interface that enables
intelligent navigation decision-making in real-time
and allows for easy access for remote human-in-
the-loop operators.
The Argos systems do all the data processing. This
provides the vehicle control system with the
information needed to make real-time course
alterations. All Argos Navigation Sonars models
have an Ethernet-based machine interface. USV/
ASV developers can access the same fully
processed information used in display software for
integration with their system via a Software
Development Kit.
FEATURE FORWARD LOOKING SONAR
ARGOS FLS
FAR SOUNDER
Argos Navigarion sonar from Far Sounder