Simrad has released a significant update for its ME70 Scientific Multibeam Echo Sounder.
The company says that through new software and hardware configuration, the update provides greater accuracy and operating range whilst significantly reducing maintenance costs and improving system reliability.
With the new Simrad ME70 software 1.2.5, all beamforming is carried out on a powerful operator computer processor, meaning the system can run on a single computer. Previously, the Simrad ME70 required six dedicated beamforming computers in the transceiver unit, which, following this update, are no longer needed. All new Simrad ME70s will be sold in the single computer configuration and Simrad offers an upgrade kit to enable existing systems to run on a single computer.
“Previous experiences from our fisheries sonars have shown that when we reduce the complexity of the hardware configuration, what we get is a more stable system which is critical for efficient surveys,” explains Tonny Algrøy, sales manager for the scientific market at Simrad. “This new configuration is of course easier and less expensive to maintain in the long run and will offer better performance and more reliability during operation.”
Improving performance
Whilst reducing the number of beamforming computers required, Simrad engineers have also been able to improve the beamforming performance in a number of areas. The basic beam model used for steered beams has been improved to increase accuracy of target strength measurements for off-axis targets in each individual beam. Additionally, the nominal (pre-calibration) gain values have been improved, which allows more accurate evaluation of un-calibrated beam modes, whilst more default Fourier coefficients in the signal processing computations enhances accuracy on targets close to the bottom.
“The Simrad ME70, was introduced to the scientific community in 2005 with the delivery of a system to the French research institution IFREMER, for its vessel Thalassa,” says Mr Algrøy. “The concept of using quantitative multibeam echo sounders in fishery research was quite new at that time, but now we see them becoming more like a standard for modern research vessels. Over the years processors have become more powerful, which have made it possible for us to improve the original configuration of the system. Together with our own findings, feedback from our dedicated users worldwide has been incorporated in the latest software release, resulting in a system with improved performance and accuracy.”
In addition to various minor enhancements and bug fixes, Simrad ME70 software 1.2.5 also introduces Windows 7 compatibility, increased absolute maximum range from 1000m to 2000m and improved message handling and documentation through the inclusion of a dedicated message descriptions chapter in the reference manual.
