Technical Description of the PointShield™
The PointShield™ is a small, light-weight Diver Detection Sonar (DDS) system designed to detect underwater targets such as divers and Swimmer Delivery Vehicles (SDVs). The PointShield™ can be used for both portable and fixed installations.
Configuration Options
The PointShield™ can be provided in one of 4 coverage configurations to support tailoring of the system to the exact customer site dimensions:
• 90° of horizontal coverage
• 180° of horizontal coverage
• 270° of horizontal coverage
• 360° of horizontal coverage
All of the PointShield™ configurations have a vertical coverage of 20°. This coverage is sufficient to cover the whole water column at relevant ranges so no object can slip through.
The PointShield is comprised of the following sub-units:
• Underwater Unit
• Processor Unit
• Control and Display Unit (C&D)
• Junction Box
Underwater Unit
The underwater unit is a small light-weight shell containing 1 - 4 rectangular transducer arrays. Inside the shell there is also a watertight electronic container housing the front-end electronics. The transducer arrays are used for both transmitting and receiving.
The system is ideal for both stationary and portable purposes. The underwater unit is very light weight making it totally portable and easily moved between sites. Deployment of the system is very easy and only requires one person.
Below is a picture of the PointShield™ Underwater Unit on a tripod.
PointShield™ Underwater Unit
The output of the underwater unit is beam data. The data is transferred by LAN to the Processor Unit via the Junction Box.
The following diagram shows the dimensions of the underwater unit.
PointShield™ Underwater Unit Dimensions
Junction Box
The Junction Box is a small metal box installed on the shore near the underwater unit. It serves to connect the underwater cable from the underwater unit to the:
• Fiber –optic cable leading to the processor unit
• Power cable
The Junction Box includes the following elements:
• Power supply to convert the input 110/220 VAC supply to 48 VDC for the underwater unit
• LAN converter to convert the copper LAN wire from the underwater unit to fiber-optic cable to the processor unit
Processor Unit
The processor unit is a high performance PC computer. It performs advanced acoustic signal processing algorithms.
Detection - two types of processing are employed: Energy and Coherent.
The Control and Display unit is a PC computer with a high performance monitor. It performs the following functions:
• Display processing
• Tactical picture display
• Display of sonar data in graphic, video and alpha-numeric format
• System operation by the operator using on screen menus and control devices
All system units and computers are connected via 1 Gbps LAN switch.
The system is fully automatic:
• Automatic detection
• Automatic tracking
• Automatic classification
• Automatic alert
Detection ranges:
• Diver with open circuit breathing apparatus – up to 350 m
• Diver with closed circuit breathing apparatus – up to 250 m
• Swimmer Delivery Vehicle (SDV) – up to 500 m
*These ranges are for isothermal water conditions
Detection ranges may vary due to adverse acoustic conditions such as:
• Non isothermal water (temperature profile with gradient)
• Very dirty water
• Water with high concentration of mud/sand particles
• Bottom with gravel or rocks
Reliability and Maintainability
The system is designed and built for 24/7 operation. The only preventive/periodic maintenance activity required is cleaning the marine growth on the Underwater Unit. This should be done every 3 – 12 months depending on the growth rate. Cleaning of the underwater unit can be done under the water using a diver or above the water.
System Weight and Dimensions
Underwater unit:
• Width: 0.3 meter
• Height: 0.7 meter
• Weight in air: 18 Kg
Recording and Playback
The system provides three modes of data recording and playback:
• Processed data recording
• Event Recording (option)
• System Log recording (option)
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