Imaging Sonar
Omniscan 3D 450 SS 3D Point-Cloud Sonar
Omniscan 3D 450 SS - all-in-one unit
The Omniscan 3D 450 SS fills the gap between conventional side-scan sonar and a full multibeam echosounder.
Transducers, beamforming and processing in one housing
Every figure on this page lives somewhere on the unit. Hover or tap a number to trace it to the hardware.
- 01Inside the housingRaspberry Pi 5 + switchNo second watertight enclosure and no topside computer. Units can be linked in series through the built-in switch.
- 02ConnectionWetLink or Blue TrailWetLink penetrator, or a Blue Trail Cobalt hybrid 6-pin bulkhead. 12–30 V, 15 W max pinging, 100BaseT Ethernet.
- 03Range, per side150 m 2D · 100 m 3DSlant range: 150 m side scan, 100 m point cloud, at 450 kHz from 16 receive elements.
- 04Mounting angle30–45° downwardRecommended from horizontal. An onboard IMU compensates pitch and roll.
- 05Depth rating300 m1057 g in air, 320 g in water.
Every Omniscan 3D 450 SS Configuration
Identical sonar, identical price. Pick the connector your vehicle already uses.
A 16-channel receive array resolves the vertical angle of every return at 450 kHz, so a single pass produces a high-resolution 3D point cloud of the seabed and the side-scan image together, in real time. Transducers, beamforming and processing all sit inside one compact housing - one unit to mount, one Ethernet connection, no second watertight enclosure and no topside computer.
What differs between the configurations▾
| Specification | WetLink Penetrator | Blue Trail connector |
|---|---|---|
| Connector | WetLink Penetrator | Blue Trail Cobalt hybrid 6-pin |
| Supplied as | All-in-one, self-contained | All-in-one, self-contained |
Everything else on this page is common to both configurations; which vehicle each one is cut for is on the cards above.
Key specifications20 rows▾
| Frequency (nominal) | 450 kHz |
| Side-scan beam width (2-way) | 0.5° |
| Point-cloud along-track beam width (1-way TX) | 0.8° |
| Cross-track angle resolution | < 1° (angle of arrival) |
| Cross-track (vertical) beam width, each side | TX 90° (nominal @ −10 dB) |
| Max range - 2D side scan | 150 m slant range per side |
| Max range - 3D point cloud | 100 m slant range per side |
| Range resolution | up to 1/1000th of range |
| Receive array elements | 16 |
| Maximum ping rate | 20 Hz |
| Point cloud data | angle, time of flight, relative amplitude |
| IMU sensors | pitch and roll |
| Timing synchronisation | direct sync to NTP server |
| Power | 12–30 V, 15 W max (pinging) |
| Data interface | 100BaseT Ethernet |
| Electrical connection | 4-pin JST GH for Ethernet + ferrules for power and ground, or Blue Trail Cobalt hybrid 6-pin bulkhead |
| Recommended mounting angle | 30–45° downward from horizontal |
| Max operating depth | 300 m |
| Weight in air | 1057 g |
| Weight in water | 320 g |
Published by Cerulean - specification page
Applications▾
- Quay, pile and dock inspection - vertical structure is rendered in its true position on a 3D mesh instead of being laid flat, which is the case Cerulean use to demonstrate the 3D view
- Shallow-water bathymetry over a wide swath - the job Cerulean state this instrument excels at
- Search and recovery - the side-scan image to find the target, and the point cloud to say how far it stands off the bottom
- Wreck and obstruction survey - height and shape read from the points themselves rather than inferred from an acoustic shadow
- Water-column work - returns from above the bottom, such as fish, weed beds and boat wakes, are classified separately and can be thinned or hidden
- Seabed documentation - a depth-coloured mesh and depth contours rendered over the collected points
Features▾
- Point cloud and side scan from the same ping - 16 receive elements resolve the vertical angle of every return, so one pass produces both.
- A true 3D mesh, not a flat projection - SonarView computes the bottom profile and renders the high-resolution image on it at its real position in 3D space. Structures standing in the water column are drawn separately as points.
- Self-contained - a Raspberry Pi 5 and an Ethernet switch sit inside the unit, so it needs no additional watertight enclosure, no separate computer and less network bandwidth, because only processed data crosses the link. Units can be linked in series through the built-in switch.
- Pitch and roll compensation - an onboard IMU means the mounting angle can be varied within the recommended band rather than fixed to one exact figure.
- Beamforming happens on the device - the calculation that turns 16 channels into angles is done in the unit, not on a topside computer.
What's in the box▾
Cerulean’s own packing list for this product.
What’s in the box
- Omniscan 3D all-in-one unit
- 4-pin JST-GH to JST-GH jumper
- 4-pin JST-GH to JST-GH adapter
- 4-pin JST-GH to RJ45 (female) adapter
- Penetrator O-ring and nut
Downloads▾
Where the third dimension comes from
The Omniscan 3D runs at 450 kHz and uses the same fan-beam transducers as the rest of the Omniscan 450 family. What it adds is a 16-channel receive-only array that works out the vertical angle every echo arrived from.
That one extra quantity changes what the software can draw. A conventional side scan - including the Omniscan 450 SS - knows the slant range to a target but not its height, so it lays the image on a flat plane. Knowing the angle as well, SonarView computes a true 3D mesh of the bottom and renders the high-resolution image on that mesh at its real position in space. Structures standing up in the water column, such as dock pilings and weed beds, are drawn separately as a point cloud.
Cerulean place it, in their own words, somewhere between an interferometric side scan and a multibeam echo sounder. It is not a replacement for a survey multibeam: for survey-grade bathymetry the Surveyor 240-16 is the instrument. What the 3D buys is a wide swath in shallow water, with a side-scan image on top of it.
Multibeam or 3D side scan? Which one your survey actually needsSource: Cerulean Sonar, Omniscan 3D overview.
Omniscan 3D 450 SS, and what it produces
Photographs of the hardware, and real output from it - not renders.
The mounting angle is not a detail
Cerulean recommend mounting the unit 30–45° downward from horizontal, and both ends of that band exist for a reason worth knowing before you drill anything.
- Shallower than about 25° and the device may fail to capture points in the nadir - directly beneath the vessel - whenever the boat rolls or heels.
- Steeper than about 50° and the swath width you can ultimately achieve is reduced.
Between those limits the angle is forgiving, because the unit carries a pitch-and-roll IMU and compensates for how it is sitting.
It must not be allowed to point straight down. Unlike the Surveyor 240-16, the Omniscan 3D does not support facing vertically: if it does, it reads that as having been mounted the other way round, and points on the starboard side appear to port.
Source: Cerulean Sonar, Device Mounting.
The sonar does not know where it is
A point cloud is only worth anything if every point can be put somewhere. The Omniscan 3D measures range and angle; it does not measure position or heading, so SonarView has to be given both from an external source before the data means anything on a chart.
| Source | Heading | Position |
|---|---|---|
| NMEA 0183 | HDT, HDG, THS | GGA, RMC |
| NMEA 2000 | 127250 | 129025 |
| mavlink2rest | From the vehicle itself - a BlueOS boat such as the BlueBoat | |
The other half is telling SonarView where the sonar sits relative to that sensor. The mounting offset is measured from the position and heading sensor to the centre of the face of the array module, as forward (X), starboard (Y) and down (Z).
Source: Cerulean Sonar, Position and Heading Source.
All-in-one, modular, and the upgrade kit
Cerulean document three forms of this instrument, and only one of them is a current product. What we sell is the all-in-one unit, in two connector options - the same sonar and the same price either way, so the choice is simply which connector your vehicle already uses.
Cerulean's own advice on the all-in-one is direct: if you are buying a new system, this is the one to get. It is fully self contained, so it needs no additional watertight enclosure, no separate computer, and less network bandwidth, since only processed data is transmitted.
- Omniscan 3D 450 SS Modular exists to reuse pre-existing Omniscan 450 hardware. It needs an extra watertight enclosure housing a Linux computer you supply plus the Omniscan 450 PCB. Cerulean advise the all-in-one for new systems regardless.
- The RX16 Upgrade Kit is no longer available for sale. Cerulean state so in the documentation. The all-in-one is the current route to 3D.
Sources: Cerulean Sonar, Omniscan 3D overview and Omniscan <-> Omniscan3D.
Common questions
Answers Cerulean publish, each linked back to the page it came from.
What does the 3D actually add?
A conventional side scan lays its image on a flat plane. The Omniscan 3D has a 16-channel receive array that works out the vertical angle of every return, so SonarView can build a true 3D mesh and drape the image on it - and everything standing up in the water column comes out as a point cloud. Source
Is it a replacement for a multibeam?
No. Cerulean position it between an interferometric side scan and a multibeam echosounder. It is very good at wide swaths in shallow water. For survey-grade bathymetry the Surveyor 240-16 is the multibeam. Source
Do I need an extra computer or housing?
No. The all-in-one unit has a Raspberry Pi 5 and an Ethernet switch inside and is fully self-contained. All the beamforming happens on the device, so it also needs less network bandwidth. Units can be chained through the built-in switch. Source
Can I upgrade an Omniscan 450 I already own?
Not any more. The RX16 Upgrade Kit that did this is no longer available for sale - Cerulean state so in the documentation. The all-in-one is the current route to 3D. Source
How should it be mounted?
30–45° downward from horizontal. Source
Request an Omniscan 3D 450 SS quote
Tell us the vehicle and the water depth and we will confirm the exact part number - and say so if a different model suits the job better.
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