DriX, iXblue’s unmanned surface Drone, has been designed with the absence of Human factor as a fundamental, from launch and recovery to mission’s execution. Fast, enduring, safe, high seas going and sea proven, it shows outstanding seakeeping capabilities and takes the industry of surface drones several steps further. Designed and built by iXblue’s shipyard, following the in-house surveyors’ teams’ requirements, DriX has been refined with iXblue’s long-time international major partners in the fields of Hydrography, Geosciences and Offshore Energy.
DriX is provided with a composite 5 axis milled gondola in which all the underwater sensors are embedded giving an excellent S/N ratio that results in extremely good data quality. The connection between the underwater payload and the electronic compartment is made by some special universal wires embedded in the fin keel.
Some specific gondola can be provided, specifically crafted by sizes in order to be able to accommodate different types of payloads such as: USBL, MBES, Sub Bottom Profiler, ADCP, Cameras and optical sensors.
Presentation will be articulated on return on field experience using surface maritime drone into hydrographic survey applications such as Saint Pierre and Miquelon mission near Canada Newfoundland where DriX proved its efficiency and unique weather tolerance covering >350km² / 4500 linekm in 30 days operation facing only 3 days of weather standby.
David Vincentelli
Passionate about cartography, David Vincentelli graduated from ENSTA Bretagne in 2006, a master’s degree in Hydrography and Cartography, Cat A certified courses.
He started his career as offshore hydrographic surveyor working for Fugro from 2006 until 2012, mainly in the Middle East for 3 years before moving to Europe getting more operations in Europe and North Africa. In 2012, he joined iXblue as business developer for the Sea Operation division, to develop their commercial offer in the hydrographic, geophysical and oceanographic service market.
In 2020, David was appointed director of the sea operation division to lead the transition towards remote hydrography services and support the deployment of iXblue autonomous survey solutions.
As part of his pro-bono activities, he is an active member of the Francophone Hydrographic society and since 2019 the president of that society, promoting the hydrographic expertise within the francophone community.