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Updated 4/16/2010

WHAT'S NEW

March 2010-Falmouth Scientific's New Portable Side Scan Sonar Helps Local Harbormaster in Search and Recovery Effort
FSI and its Hegg Marine Solutions (HMS) Division announced today that the company's new HMS-1400 Side Scan Sonar System helped the Town of Falmouth, Massachusetts, locate a vehicle that had been driven off a local pier into the town harbor. Earlier attempts to locate the car using other techniques had been unsuccessful. John Baker, President of FSI, deployed the HMS-1400 Side Scan Sonar System off the side of the Harbormaster's boat. The sonar system quickly identified a possible target object, which showed up as a large image on the system's deck-based computer screen. Specialized software supplied by Oceanic Imaging Consultants (OIC) of Honolulu, Hawaii, helped identify the object as a likely target. Divers from the Falmouth Fire Rescue department later confirmed that the target was the missing car, which was recovered later that afternoon.

The HMS-1400 Side Scan Sonar System identifies features on the seabed by sending sound pulses into the water and processing the signals that return to the unit after being reflected off the seabed. the time required for the pulse to return to the unit, as well as the strength of the returned signal, can be used to identify features that stand out from the surrounding seabed material.

According to John Baker, "This was an ideal use of the HMS-1400 Side Scan Sonar System, which was designed as a highly portable system to be deployed from small vessels for search and recovery operations, harbor security and inspection surveys, and rapid environmental assessment surveys. We are proud to have been invited to demonstrate the effectiveness of the technology on a project to help the local community."

The HMS-1400 was introduced by the HMS Division of FSI at the Oceanology International 2010 conference in London, UK, last week.

March 2010-Falmouth Scientific Introduces Portable Side-Scan Sonar Powered by GeoDAS Software
FSI is introducing its new HMS-1400 Side-Scan Sonar System as part of its new Hegg Marine Solutions Division, specializing in products and services for the hydrographic and marine survey markets. The HMS-1400 is a low-cost, highly portable, single- or dual-frequency side-scan system. Powered by GeoDAS software from Oceanic Imaging Consultants, the HMS-1400 comprises a portable towfish and waterproof topside case containing the data acquisition, control and power supply. The HMS-1400 is ideal for harbor security and hazard surveys, search and rescue operations, and small-vessel surveys. Dual-frequency options from 100 through 1200 kHz max allow for best range/resolution selection for specific applications. The GeoDAS interface and display software at the heart of the system provides mission planning and control, automatic tuning and target marking, and real-time mosaicing of seabed images on top of nautical chart data for effective image location and mission execution.

For more information on the HMS-1400 Side Scan Sonar, visit www.falmouth.com, contact FSI sales at sales@falmouth.com.

March 2010-FSI Acquires Hegg Marine Solutions (HMS) Specializing in Geophysical and Marine Survey Products and Services
FSI announced the acquisition of Hegg Marine Solutions (HMS). HMS will become a division of FSI specializing in products and services for the geophysical and marine survey markets. HMS, founded by Fred Hegg in 2008, provides a full range of services, including hydro-acoustic system integration, training, and site support. The combined capabilities of the two companies will enable FSI and the new HMS division to provide more complete product and service offerings for coastal and deep-water underwater applications.

Fred Hegg, HMS’s founder, brings long-term experience in development and field operation of a variety of marine products, including acoustic positioning devices, deepwater sensors, and towed sonar systems. Mr. Hegg, who was previously employed by Benthos and Datasonics, will become FSI’s Vice President of Engineering.

According to John Baker, FSI’s President and Chief Engineer, “We are very excited to be working with Fred and HMS, whose extensive understanding of products and applications in the hydrographic and marine markets will enhance FSI’s ability to offer customers a range of solutions – from standard products to custom systems. Fred’s expertise will also enable FSI to broaden customer support of its products from design through deployment.”

January 2010-FSI's Solar-powered AUV (SAUV) to be used in Tectonic Plate Monitoring
FSI announced today it has supplied a Solar-powered Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (SAUV) to the University of Tokyo for use in monitoring tectonic plate movement. The SAUV was delivered through SEA Corporation, FSI’s representative in Japan.

The SAUV is a compact, man-portable AUV designed for autonomous operation for long periods (weeks to months) without requiring maintenance, servicing, or recharging. The vehicle can be pre-programmed to submerge to depths down to 500 meters, to transit to designated waypoints, or to operate on the surface during conditions suitable for battery charging via solar energy input. With a square meter of solar panels, the SAUV can collect from 300 to 900 Watt-hours per day and carries 2.4KWHr on-board, rechargeable batteries, providing sufficient power for extended missions with large user payloads and frequent communications.

For this project, the SAUV has been equipped with a specialized transducer to receive precise slant range data from seabed-mounted transponders along with an RTK GPS, IXSEA PHINS motion reference unit and a TRDI WorkHorse ADCP. The SAUV provides the large payload capacity and stability that make this project possible. The combination of precise data from the underwater transponders, RTK GPS, and IXSEA MRU will allow researchers to monitor tectonic plate movements on the scale of millimeters per kilometer.

Visit www.falmouth.com/products/SolarAUV.html or contact fsi@falmouth.com for additional information on the Falmouth Scientific SAUV.

November 2009-FSI Awarded Contract by SPAWAR
FSI announced that it has been awarded a contract modification by Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SPAWAR) of San Diego for additional effort on an un-tethered, autonomous station-keeping Gateway Buoy (“Gatekeeper”). The Gatekeeper communications buoy is designed to provide persistent communications from subsurface acoustic modems to over-the-horizon assets via RF and satellite telemetry. The contract is an extension of an SBIR Phase II award to FSI in 2006 for development of a prototype autonomous Gatekeeper buoy that harvests energy from the surrounding environment to provide power for sensors, communications, and propulsion systems for maintaining a user-settable watch circle over an extended period. This contract and a related modification bring the total funding for the SBIR Phase II project to over $1.3M.

Under Phase I and Phase II of the SBIR project, FSI and its partners, Vehicle Control Technologies (VCT) of Reston, VA, Autonomous Undersea Systems Institute (AUSI) of Lee, NH, and Mil3 of Cary, NC, designed and built a prototype “Gatekeeper”--a spar-type buoy with a hydrodynamic body, thruster, and mission software that allows it to maintain the watch circle or transit to a new location in response to remote commands in currents up to 3 knots. The buoy also incorporates an innovative energy-harvesting Sea Water Activated Power System (SWAPS™) developed by Mil3. The self-regulating SWAPS assembly uses a magnesium alloy to generate hydrogen when in contact with sea water to energize fuel cells and allows for extended station-keeping deployments at an energy density, cost, and size significantly better than lithium ion batteries. The contract modification provides for system improvements and demonstration of the Gatekeeper Buoy station-keeping performance, communications reliability, and endurance in sea states of 2 to 3 for a two-week period. The endurance test is scheduled for Spring 2010.

September 2009-FSI Posts Instructional Videos On-Line
FSI announced that it has made several instructional videos available to aid customers in configuration and deployment of its 2D-ACM current meters. The videos provide details of a typical short-term deployment and demonstrate how to configure the current meters using FSI’s ACMPro software package, as well as how to download and view data from the instruments using ACMPro and ACMPost graphing software. The videos are available through the video-sharing site, Youtube, as well as on the FSI ftp server, available through the following links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHdwJR2EpP4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHVkmZ-pIpo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i1UBJ4PE3Q
http://www.falmouth.com/software.htm

The 2D-ACM current meters use acoustic phase-shift transit-time technology to measure a point velocity in 2 dimensions. The current meters incorporate a 3-axis compass and tilt sensor, to relate the measured velocities to compass directions. Transit-time technology measures velocities accurately in ultra-pure as well as turbid water, as no reflectors are required. In addition, the technology can be used very near boundaries, such as the seabed and water surface, as well as throughout the water column. When instrumented with conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) modules, the units also provide output of salinity and sound velocity. Falmouth Scientific has been supplying acoustic current meters since 1998 and has shipped over 700 2D-ACM current meters worldwide.

August 2009-FSI Announces Current Meter Training in India
FSI announced that it has completed training for the Indian Navy in operation and maintenance of its 2D-ACM current meter systems. Over 30 Navy personnel from five vessels attended the 3-day training course, which was conducted by Fred Hegg of FSI at the National Hydrographic Survey facility in Visakhapatnam . FSI supplied fourteen of the 2D-ACM current meters with conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) modules to the Indian Navy in February of this year. The current meters use acoustic phase-shift transit-time technology to measure a 2-dimensional point-velocity. When instrumented with CTD modules, the system also provides salinity and sound velocity data. The current meter systems will be deployed for monitoring shallow-water currents, salinity, and sound velocities.

August 2009-FSI Announces Sale of CT/CTD Product Line to Teledyne-RD Instruments
In May 2009, FSI sold its line of CT/CTD products to Teledyne-RD Instruments. The sale of the CTD product line has enabled FSI to focus our efforts on products and services incorporating FSI's expertise in underwater acoustics and system integration.

FSI continues to offer a line of acoustic 2- and 3-dimensional point-velocity current/wave meters and pressure-based tide sensors used by customers world-wide. Integrated systems currently offered by FSI include riser motion monitoring systems incorporating accelerometer and inclinometer sensors; our Solar AUV (SAUV), which is well suited for long-endurance missions and has a large user payload capacity; a line Gateway communications buoy, which allows relaying of acoustic modem communications over the horizon via various RF communication systems such as Iridium, Freewave, and WiFi: and deep-water acoustic positioning beacons for the NSF-funded IODP deep-water drilling program, which is studying the earth's fossil record.

FSI also has extensive experience in development, manufacture, and test of acoustic transducers, including single-crystal and other specialized transducers designs. The company maintains a 9,500-square-foot facility equipped with a 12-foot-deep acoustic test tank for performing transducer beam patterns and sensitivity measurements. Other specialized test equipment, including a 10,000 psi pressure chamber, pull-test facility, and low- and high-temperature oven, enable FSI to offer test services in support of other manufacturers' production processes.

For more information on FSI products and capabilities, or to discuss a specific project, contact Joanna Phillips at 508-564-7640 x 112 or jphillips@falmouth.com.

August 2008-FSI Announces Shipment of Deepwater Positioning Buoys
FSI announced its recent shipment of 30 deepwater positioning buoys worth almost half-a-million dollars to the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP). These beacons will be employed by IODP’s drilling vessel for deepwater (6000-meter) positioning. FSI’s instruments will be used to accurately position IODP’s drilling ships in order to extract cores of the Earth’s crust at the bottom of the ocean. The mission of the IODP is to explore Earth’s history and structure recorded in seafloor sediments and rocks, and to monitor sub-seafloor environments. Their efforts are part of a global team from the US , Japan , China , Korea and Europe .

May 2007-FSI Announces Navy Contract for Ocean Sensors
FSI announced that it has received a $3.6 million, multi-year contract for supply of conductivity, temperature, depth (CTD) sensors from the U.S. Navy’s Naval Underwater Warfare Center (NUWC) in Newport , RI . The DT-705 sensors are installed on submarines to monitor the surrounding environment. Ocean conductivity, temperature, and depth measurements provided by the sensor are also used to calculate sound velocity, salinity, and density for use in weapons targeting and submarine buoyancy determination. FSI has supplied over 150 DT-705 CTD sensors to the Navy under previous contracts. Sensors supplied under the new contract will be used to instrument Los Angeles Class submarines as well as the newer Virginia Class submarines.

FSI DT-705 CTD sensors incorporate a patented NXIC (non-external inductive conductivity) sensor design, which is not affected by proximity of external objects around the sensor. This represents an advance over earlier inductive conductivity sensors, whose conductivity readings could be affected by nearby objects. The NXIC sensor also provides robust operation and highly stable readings. The DT-705 CTD sensor is a shock-hardened design which survived extensive shock tests required for rating as Class A Naval equipment meeting Critical Item Product Specification and environmental requirements.

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