Impact Subsea is pleased to announce the launch of the ISA200, the latest addition to its advanced range of underwater altimeters and single beam echosounders.

Operating at 200kHz, the ISA200 offers an impressive measurement range exceeding 250 meters (820 feet) with exceptional accuracy to within 1mm. Engineered for the most demanding subsea environments, the ISA200 is depth rated to 6,000 meters (19,685 feet) and delivers a precise 15.2° conical beam, providing reliable long-range performance for a wide range of applications.

Designed to function both as an underwater altimeter and as a high-performance echosounder, the ISA200 offers flexible measurement capabilities for AUV, ROV and hydrographic survey operations. When operating as an echosounder, the ISA200 delivers detailed sonar backscatter data, providing up to 2,000 sample points per ping, each with associated energy and correlation values enabling comprehensive seabed analysis.

Data from the ISA200 can be easily viewed and logged using Impact Subsea’s seaView software or seamlessly integrated into third-party systems. For straightforward integration, the sensor supports simple ASCII data output, while the Impact Subsea Software Development Kit (SDK) provides developers with complete control over the sensor’s operation and data handling.

Commenting on the product launch, Ben Grant, Managing Director of Impact Subsea, said:

“We are excited to expand our altimeter and echosounder range with the introduction of the ISA200. This sensor offers exceptional long-range measurement capabilities and will deliver significant benefits to users in AUV, ROV and hydrographic survey applications.”

ISA200 full specification can be found here: https://www.impactsubsea.co.uk/altimeter/

seaView 3.1 empowers users with a range of new features designed to enhance efficiency and streamline subsea operations.

Seamless Video Integration

A major highlight of seaView 3.1 is the introduction of video support. Users can now directly view and record video streams from any connected video camera within the software.

This allows for a unified view of critical data, including video, sonar, altitude, depth, temperature, heading, pitch and roll, all presented in a single, user-friendly interface.

Synchronised Global Logging and Replay

seaView 3.1 introduces a powerful global logging and replay functionality. This feature enables users to record data from multiple sensors simultaneously into a single file.

The recorded data can then be conveniently replayed within seaView, ensuring all sensor readings remain synchronised for in-depth analysis.

Streamlined Feature Activation with License Keys

seaView 3.1 replaces license files with a more convenient license key system. Users can activate specific features, such as FMD, AHRS, or ECHOGRAM, within a sensor’s firmware by entering a simple one-time activation key.

Performance and Communication Enhancements

Beyond the headline features, seaView 3.1 boasts several behind-the-scenes improvements. The Flooded Member Detection application benefits from performance enhancements, while overall sensor communication has been optimised for increased reliability.

We’ll be adding video demonstrations to showcase seaView 3.1 in action so make sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel.

Commitment to Continuous Development

Alastair Mclennan-Murray, Technical Director at Impact Subsea, commenting on the release:

“At Impact Subsea, we are firmly committed to continuous development of our sensor solutions and seaView software.

seaView 3.1 unlocks exciting new capabilities for our users and as always, this update is available free of charge to our entire user base.”

Download seaView 3.1 Today

Experience the power and convenience of seaView 3.1. Download the latest version.

Impact Subsea has released the first open sourced version of the Software Development Kit (SDK).

The SDK is provided to allow users to develop their own application to communicate with and operate any Impact Subsea sensor.

The open source version of the SDK is available on GitHub and is a single project written in C++17. This release includes:

• The SDK no longer runs in its own thread simplifying interfacing.
• Linux and cross platform usage is better supported through cmake and C++17.
• Each serial port runs in its own thread so the SDK does not lock up if there is a serial port issue.
• Logging sensor data to file is much simpler, as is the playback, as the log file data is basically the comms data. This allows log data to virtually simulate a sensor.

“The release of the open source SDK will provide users of Impact Subsea sensors with an exceptionally powerful kit to develop applications. The cross platform capability will simplify development considerably and we have added many improvements over the previous SDK.”

Commented Alistair Mclennan-Murray, Technical Director, Impact Subsea.

How to access the open source SDK

The SDK can be found on GitHub here: https://github.com/Impact-Subsea/islSdk

There is also an example project here: https://github.com/Impact-Subsea/sdkExample that shows how to use the SDK and helps users get up and running quickly.

The SDK is available free of charge to all Impact Subsea sensor users. To use the open source version of the SDK your Impact Subsea sensor will require to have V3.0.0 firmware and above.

For using sensors in ROV and other applications the seaView software is provided to enable image viewing, data logging and configuration of Impact Subsea sensors.

If you have questions please contact us at info@impactsubsea.co.uk

This new feature adds a full backscatter capability to the ISA500, enabling the underwater Altimeter to be upgraded to have a full single beam imaging sonar capability.

Underwater Altimeters typically provide only a single range reading per ping. However, with the addition of ECHOGRAM, the water column and seabed can be fully visualized, allowing for visual identification of targets. This provides up to 2,000 samples per ping, with each sample representing the correlation level of acoustic signal return at its particular point in the range.

The ISA500 is available in Titanium or Acetal and can be used at depths ranging from 1,000m to 11,000m. It is also optionally available with or without an integrated AHRS providing Heading, Pitch, and Roll. Additionally, it is available for use as part of a Flooded Member Detection System.

Ben Grant, Managing Director of Impact Subsea Ltd, said;

“Since the launch of the ISA500 in 2015, we have continued to add capabilities and features to this range of sensors. The addition of backscatter capability is one which we are very excited about. As a firmware update, all ISA500 sensors can have this feature enabled – even the very first sensors produced back in 2015.”

The ECHOGRAM capability can be added to all ISA500 Altimeters through a firmware and software upgrade, complete with a one-time activation license.

ECHOGRAM App in seaView Software:

For more information on the ISA500, please visit the ISA500 page on Impact Subsea’s website or their knowledge base.

Version 3.0.15 contains new features, user interface refinements and a notifications area to provide updates on the status of sensors (current and historic).

For the ISS360 sonar this update adds the ability to switch between 16 and 8 bit data – allowing faster update rates over lower baud rate connections. Hot keys have also been added allowing quick selection of specific directional sectors to scan. The ability to record the Attitude data (Pitch and Roll) independently to the sonar data has also been added.

Update rates within seaView for the individual sensor readings can now be adjusted (Altitude, Pressure, AHRS etc) allowing optimisation of available telemetry bandwidth.

Other general updates include the ability to automatically save screenshots at user defined intervals and improved support for multiple sensors over a single RS485 bus.

Alastair Mclennan-Murray, Technical Director, commented;

“This latest release of seaView highlights our commitment to continuous product development. Users are provided with an intuitive and powerful platform for operation of all Impact Subsea sensors”.

This latest update is available to all users of seaView free of charge. Find out more and download the new software on the seaView software page

Watch our seaView Software Q&A film

To learn more about Impact Subsea’s range of AUV, ROV and underwater sensors check out the website.

Rental Technology & Services (RTS) have made a significant investment in Impact Subsea ISA500 Altimeters and ISD4000 Depth Sensors. 

The investment is to compliment RTS’s rental portfolio with high performance sensor solutions and provide rental stock for the newly opened Aberdeen base.  The ISA500 provides long range, high accuracy, underwater distance measurements while the ISD4000 provides survey grade depth and temperature readings.

Dale Townend, UK Technical Manager, RTS, commented:

‘’I’ve always been impressed with the range of products Impact Subsea offers and I’m excited that we can invest and add these to our rental portfolio.

Their commitment to innovative technology matches what we offer to our client base therefore it makes sense for us to add the ISD4000 and ISA500 to match our clients’ requirements and demand”.

Ben Grant, Managing Director, Impact Subsea further commented:

“We are pleased to work with RTS with the provision of underwater Altimeters and Depth sensors. We see an ever growing demand for rental solutions and welcome RTS’s investment and commitment to offer Impact Subsea sensor solutions to their clients”.   

RTS is an international provider of electronic engineering equipment for the underwater industry. The company provides technical solutions to the world’s major offshore companies involved in fish farming, renewables, inspection, seabed mapping and subsea construction projects.

Impact Subsea manufactures a range of underwater sensor solutions for AUV, ROV and standalone operation. Their range includes high performance Altimeters, Depth Sensors, Attitude & Heading Reference Systems, Sonars and Flooded Member Detection systems. 

For more information on RTS please see here.

For more information on Impact Subsea’s products please see here.

Impact Subsea has announced a new addition to the ISS360 Sonar range – the ISS360HD.

The ISS360HD offers a 1° acoustic angular resolution, 2.5mm range resolution and a distance measurement range in excess of 100 meters/328 feet.  The sonar is depth rated to 6,000 meters / 19,685 feet and comes in a very compact form factor.

The ISS360HD has a very wide operational acoustic bandwidth capability; 600 to 900kHz which is fully utilised through CHIRP (Compressed High Intensity Radar Pulse) technology.  The wide bandwidth CHIRP allows for an excellent range resolution of 2.5mm when using the full bandwidth. 

A narrow acoustic beam, combined with a very short range resolution allows for extremely high definition imagery to be produced.  This makes the ISS360HD ideal for work class ROV operations with excellent range capability and ability to identify targets in zero visibility.  The form factor of the sonar also opens this capability up to even the smallest of observation class ROVs.

Below is example imagery from the ISS360HD. Image shows harbour wall, harbour floor with wheels, rope, stones etc. Also shown is the shoreline (left) and boat mooring rope on the water surface.

In addition to the long range and high resolution capabilities, the ISS360HD benefits from an inductively coupled transducer.  This means there are no slip rings within the sonar – so there are no components to wear out and require periodic replacement. 

The sonar optionally comes with an integrated pitch and roll sensor, allowing accurate attitude readings to be provided.  This is a very useful capability when deploying the sonar using a tripod to ensure level positioning. The integrated pitch and roll sensor is also a useful additional sensor reading for some underwater vehicles.

In terms of connectivity, the ISS360HD benefits from serial (RS232 and RS485) and also ethernet communications.  When using ethernet communications, the sonar has been found to scan up to six times faster than other, competing serial only based sonars. This provides a significant benefit when using the sonar for underwater vehicle obstacle avoidance purposes.

The ISS360HD operates with the Impact Subsea seaView V3 software, allowing seamless use alongside the Impact Subsea Altimeter, Depth Sensor, AHRS sensor and FMD system.

For those wishing to use the ISS360HD sonar with an autonomous underwater vehicle, a Software Development Kit is freely available to allow direct integration of the sonar.

To learn more about the ISS360HD please click: here

Watch our Introduction film on YouTube: here