Subsea Positioning
Tracker 650 DVL
The Tracker 650 is a 675 kHz Doppler Velocity Log that provides the high-rate velocity information an ROV needs for position hold and dead reckoning. It pings at 5–20 Hz, filling the gaps between USBL position updates, and deliberately leaves attitude to the vehicle’s own IMU — one IMU to calibrate instead of two.
At a glance
- Ping frequency
- 675 kHz
- Operating height
- 0.5 m to 25–50 m
- Max speed
- 5 kts
- Velocity sensors
- 3
- Max depth rating
- 300 m
Full specification — 16 published figures ↓
Every Tracker 650 DVL Configuration
The finished DVL, or the board-level OEM kit for building it into your own vehicle.
In position hold the ROV typically wanders slowly around a mean location, with less than 1 m short-term circular error and less than 1 m/min long-term drift. Real performance depends on control tuning, bottom type, vegetation, standoff height and the environment.
Tracker 650 DVL, and what it produces
Cerulean’s own photographs of the hardware, and real output from it — not renders.
Every published figure
16 specifications, as Cerulean publish them. Nothing here is estimated or converted.
| Ping frequency | 675 kHz |
| Ping repetition rate | 5–20 Hz |
| Velocity sensors | 3 |
| Maximum operating height above target plane | 25–50 m |
| Minimum operating height | 50 cm |
| Maximum operating speed | 5 kts |
| Angular operating envelope | 0–10° off vertical |
| Sensor down-angle from horizontal | 70° |
| Maximum depth rating | 300 m |
| Device diameter | 108 mm |
| Device height | 48 mm |
| Weight in air | 550 g |
| Weight in water | 135 g |
| Power | 10–30 V DC, 2.5 W average, 5 W peak |
| Ethernet | 10/100 Mbps (recommended interface) |
| Serial | 3.3 V or 5 V TTL auto-sense, 115,200 8-N-1 |
Achieved maximum height depends on head tilt, flatness and hardness of the bottom, vegetation cover and salinity. Cerulean regularly reach 50 m over a hard bottom such as Lake Superior, and sometimes struggle past 30 m over a muck-bottom lake.
Published by Cerulean — specification page
In the box, and what it does not include
A sonar is not a system. These are the parts you will need alongside it — each one with Cerulean’s own source.
What’s in the box
- Tracker 650 with its combined Ethernet and power wiring cable
- Blue Robotics RJ45 to 4-pin JST GH adapter
What else you need
- A vehicle that can use velocityOn a BlueROV2 it is plug-and-play with the flight controller for position hold. On anything else it is a light API integration. Source →
- 10–30 V DC and EthernetEthernet is the recommended interface. Serial works with a cable you make, but you lose MAVLink2Rest. Source →
- Somewhere to fly itIt needs to be between 0.5 m and 25–50 m off the bottom, within 10° of vertical, under 5 kts. Source →
We supply the brackets, hubs, cables and spares alongside the unit — see what fits Tracker 650 DVL → or add them to the same enquiry.
Common questions
Answers Cerulean publish, each linked back to the page it came from.
How well does position hold actually work?
The ROV wanders slowly around a mean position — typically under 1 m short-term circular error and under 1 m/min long-term drift. Control tuning, bottom type and vegetation all move that number. Source
How high above the bottom can it work?
25–50 m, and the honest answer is that it depends on the bottom. Cerulean regularly reach 50 m over hard bottom, and sometimes struggle past 30 m over muck. Minimum is 50 cm. Source
Will it work on my vehicle?
On a BlueROV2 it is plug-and-play with the flight controller. Other vehicles need a light API integration. Source
Can I combine it with a USBL?
Yes — pairing the Tracker 650 with an Omnitrack gives USBL and DVL sensor fusion on BlueROV2 systems. Source
Request a Tracker 650 DVL 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.
Anything you have added to your quote list is carried into this form automatically.