How the HAUV sees, decides & acts.
A hovering AUV is only as good as what it can perceive with no tether and no surface fix. This is the sensor and payload layer behind the mission: the fused perception-and-positioning suite that keeps A.IKANBILIS located and autonomous, plus the two mission payloads - a buried-mine sensor and a manipulator - that turn a survey vehicle into an end-to-end mine counter-measures platform.
No tether, no surface fix - so the vehicle has to understand the scene itself.
An ROV pilot has a cable feeding video, power and a surface position. Take those away and autonomy lives or dies on sensing. BeeX describes A.IKANBILIS as carrying a 7-sensor perception and positioning suite - a fused stack, not a fixed parts list - that lets the vehicle localise itself, follow a structure, hold station in current and classify what it finds. On top of that, two mission payloads extend it from “survey” to “mine counter-measures.”
The fused stack behind the autonomy
BeeX publishes the suite as a capability, not a component list. Drawing on its public materials, the stack fuses acoustic, optical and inertial sensing with an on-board AI layer:
Forward-Looking / Imaging Sonar
Acoustic imaging to detect obstacles and targets and to navigate in zero-visibility, murky or dark water where cameras alone fail.
Multibeam Echosounder (3D Sonar)
Builds the high-resolution 3D point clouds - down to centimetre-level detail - used for structure mapping and geo-referenced measurement.
HD Optical Camera + Real-Time Enhancement
High-definition vision with on-board image enhancement for close-in visual identification and confirmation of a contact.
Doppler Velocity Log (DVL)
Bottom-lock velocity measurement that anchors the vehicle's dead-reckoning - a core reason it holds position without a surface fix.
Inertial Navigation (INS / IMU)
Attitude and motion sensing that feeds the adaptive control loop for station-keeping and wave-and-current compensation.
On-Board AI Perception Layer
Automatic Target Recognition (ATR), Mine-Like-Object (MLO) classification and anomaly detection - the intelligence that lets it react in real time.
Illustrative breakdown of the fused suite from BeeX's public materials; BeeX does not publish a fixed seven-item parts list. Exact sensor models are provided on request under datasheet.
Located without a cable or a surface fix
Underwater there is no GPS, and a HAUV has no umbilical feeding a surface position. The suite solves this by fusing sonar, vision, DVL bottom-lock and inertial sensing into a single navigation picture - so the vehicle knows where it is relative to the seabed and the structure it is working.
That fused picture is what enables adaptive, Level-3 autonomy: real-time obstacle avoidance, structure-following, station-keeping in current, and object tracking that holds a contact framed through an inspection.
- Sonar-aided navigation - no surface positioning reference required
- Bottom-lock velocity and inertial dead-reckoning
- Adaptive station-keeping with wave & current compensation
- Every contact geo-referenced for the Sambal report
One to find the mine. One to deal with it.
Two verified integration partnerships extend the perception suite into an end-to-end mine counter-measures tool-chain.
ELWAVE TETRAPULSE - Find the Buried Mine
Under a 2024 partnership, BeeX integrates French sensor company ELWAVE's TETRAPULSE onto A.IKANBILIS. Built on CEDAR - controlled electric detection and ranging, a bio-inspired active electric-field technique - it detects metallic and non-metallic objects, including mines and ordnance buried in the seabed, where sonar and vision are inefficient. A European partner sensor that directly answers the hardest MCM problem: the mine you can't see.
Reach Alpha - Deal With It
A Reach Alpha subsea manipulator is integrated onto A.IKANBILIS, giving the HAUV a working arm for intervention, object recovery, probe inspection and pick-and-place. It is the physical basis for the fleet's precise, stand-off intervention - putting a tool on the target while keeping a diver out of the water - and the reason the vehicle can close the mine kill-chain, not just find contacts.
ELWAVE (MoU, 2024) and Reach Robotics integrations are verified BeeX partnerships. Integration status and configuration are provided on request.
Sensors & payloads, mapped to the mission set
A quick reference for how the perception suite and mission payloads map to each defence task.
| Sensor / payload | MCM | Clearance / EOD | Infrastructure | Hydrography / REA | Search & Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imaging / forward sonar | ◆ | ◆ | ◆ | ◆ | ◆ |
| Multibeam 3D sonar | ◆ | · | ◆ | ◆ | ◆ |
| HD camera + enhancement | ◆ | ◆ | ◆ | · | ◆ |
| AI ATR / MLO / anomaly | ◆ | ◆ | ◆ | · | ◆ |
| ELWAVE TETRAPULSE (buried) | ◆ | ◆ | · | · | · |
| Reach Alpha manipulator | ◆ | ◆ | · | · | ◆ |
◆ = primary contributor to the mission. Indicative mapping; final payload fit is defined per requirement.
Every sensor feeds one workspace
The suite doesn't just perceive - it produces a decision-ready picture. All of it fuses into the Sambal cloud portal.
Imaging-sonar returns stitched into a geo-referenced 2D mosaic of the seabed and its contacts.
Multibeam returns rendered as a depth-coloured 3D point cloud, ready for measurement and reporting.
The right sensors and payload, for your mission.
The perception suite is common to the fleet; the mission payloads - ELWAVE for buried-mine detection, Reach for intervention - are fitted to the task. We specify the exact configuration with you against your mission set and rules of engagement.
Part of a bigger mission
SepcoTech scopes and delivers this as one piece of a cross-supplier capability. See the missions it supports:
Ask for the sensor & payload datasheet
Every enquiry is handled directly and in confidence - you will normally have a reply within one business day.
For detailed sensor specifications, payload options, integration status or to arrange a technical briefing - on this system or any platform in the SepcoTech defence portfolio - contact me directly:
- Sensor specifications & datasheets on request
- Payload options & integration status
- Technical briefings for units & agencies