Icebergs and UFOs: Safran’s innovative solution
Since the “English Transat”, the Safran boat has been fitted with a prototype “UFO” (unidentified floating objects) and iceberg detector. Used in conjunction with the traditional radar, this system drew on technologies developed by Group companies for other uses.
At sea, the risk of collision with an iceberg, a growler or a “UFO” is a perpetual worry for the lone sailor. To prevent these dangerous encounters, engineers from the Research & Technology department of Sagem have developed a system capable of detecting objects smaller than the ones picked up by conventional radar. The system, which is derived directly from products made for the security market (videosurveillance cameras), also calls on technologies developed for defense applications, for example the missile tracking systems in service on naval vessels.
How does it work?
An infrared micro-camera weighing a few tens of grams is fitted near the top of Safran’s mast. Designed to operate in extreme conditions, it is protected by a small porthole with integral deicing for the freezing temperatures of the Southern Ocean. This camera is able to detect any object at least 2 meters square whose temperature differs from that of the water. Tiny gyroscopes track movements of the boat and the camera to help stabilize the images. A computer analyzes the images and sends them to the skipper via a video display in the cabin, the system also being equipped with visual and aural alarms. Usable both day and night, the apparatus can detect a UFO up to 800 meters ahead of the boat, at an angle of 10 degrees to either side of its directional axis.
According to Marc Bousquet, the project’s leader in the Research & Technology department of Sagem, the detector should “give the skipper a minimum of thirty seconds to react to any obstacle.”
A shared technology
Fitted in a trial version for the English Transat, the full system was operational in time for the Vendée Globe. Once the technology has been completely proven, the detector could be offered to other ocean racing competitors (60-foot monohull, record-attempt trimaran, etc.). With this miniature system the Safran group, which already supplies infrared surveillance systems for security purposes in merchant vessels (for help in dealing with piracy), could well extend its market to include luxury yachts.
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