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Glossary by Exail
A comprehensive guide to Exail's technologies and wording.
This glossary serves as a comprehensive guide, clarify the precise terminology that defines the various domains in which Exail intervenes.
Drone Systems For Defense & Security
- AUV
: An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle is an independent, meaning not having or needing a crew or staff, underwater robots used to explore and map our ocean. Thiese drone sails the ocean without real-time control by human operators.
- ROV
: A Remotely Operated Vehicle is a free-swimming highly maneuverable underwater drone that can be used to explore ocean depths or intervene on immerserd structure while being operated by someone at the water surface.
- ROTV
: A Remotely Operated Towed Vehicle is deployed from USV or traditional vessels, to enhance the autonomous survey scope by allowing autonomous bathymetry, geophysics and UXO operations in a single run.
- USV
: An Unmanned/uncrewed surface vehicle/vessel is a boat or ship that operates on the surface of the water without a crew. It can operate with various levels of autonomy, form remote control to fully autonomous.
- MIDS
: Mine Identification and Disposal systems are developped to identify and neutralize sea mine thanks to a powerful viewing sewing and shaped charge.
- UMIS
: Unmanned MCM Integrated System is a MCM toolbox based on drones, developed by Exail for surveying or securing large or complex zones at sea as well as costal areas.
- UDS
: Universal Deployment System for launching unmanned assets
- LARS
: automatic LAunch and Recovery System is placed at the stern of the main vessel for a fast and safe launch or recovery. It can be customised according to a ship's specifications and mission requirements.
- MCM: Mine CounterMeasures is way to clear a path through a minefield or remove it completely. This is one of the most important tasks of any mine warfare fleet.
- MCMV: mine counter measures vessels are a type of naval ship designed for the location of and neutralization of naval mines which combines the role of a minesweeper and mine hunter.
- MWDC: mine warfare data center
- MMHS: Military Message Handling System is a profile and set of extensions to x400 for messaging in military environments. It adds to standard x400 email support for military requirements such as mandatory access control for Classified/secret/top secret messages and users.
- MDA: Maritime Domain Awarness is defined by the International Maritime Organization as the effective understanding of anything associated with the maritime domain that could impact the security, safety, economy or environment of a country.
- WECDIS: Warship Electronic Chart DISplay is an information system that offers a comprehensive range of specific military features improving tactical situation awarness through the display and process of a broad range of critical information.
- REA: Rapid Environment Assessment is a methodology for rapidly assessing and analyzing the environmental context of a particular crisis or disaster. It enables strategic and efficient response planning to mitigate identified priority environmental risks.
- UGV
: An Unmanned Ground Vehicle is a vehicle that can be remotely operated via a handheld or fixed control station to perform EOD, IED or ISTAR missions
- UAV
: An
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is a an aerial drone that can perform a wide range of missions such as intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance or target acquisition.
- UXO:
UneXploded Ordnance are explosive weapons thaht did not explode when they were employed and still pose a risk of detonation, sometimes many decades after they were used or discarded.
- EOD
: Explosive Ordnance Disposal render safe all types of ordnance, including improvised, chemical, biological and nuclear. From location, identification, render-safe, and recovery of foreign and domestic ordnance.
- IED:
An Improvised Explosive Device is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than conventional military action. It's commonly used as roadside bombs or homemade bombs.
- CBRNe:
Stands for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear explosive devices.
- ISTAR
: Stands for Intelligence, Surveillance, Target acquitision & Reconnaissance. It is a practice that links several battlefield function together to assist a combat force in employing its sensors and managing the information they gather.
Navigation Equipment
- SAS: Synthetic Aperture Sonar combines a number of acoustic pings to form an image with much higher along-track resolution than conventional sonars.
- FLS: Forward Looking Sonar provides a clear two-dimensional image of the bottom in front of the vessel, allowing to navigate shallow or poorly-charted waters with a greater degree of safety.
- SSS: Side Scan Sonar is a category of sonar system that is used to efficiently create an image of large areas of the seafloor. It is embedded on the sides of unmanned subsea drones.
- SBP: Sub-Bottom Prolifer sonar is a type of sonar system. it is a geophysical survey tool that uses sound to map the seafloor. Low-frequency pulses of sound are aimed toward the seafloor, where some pulses penetrate through and are then reflected by subsurface sediment.
- MBES: MultiBeam EchoSounder emits acoustic waves in a fan shape beneath its transceiver. The time it takes for the sound waves to reflect off the seabed and return to the receiver is used to calculate the water depth.
- MOAS: Mine and Obstacle Avoidance Sonar provides high detection performance and ensures that the platform (either submarine, ship or drone) is always in a safe environment to maneuver.
- INS: Inertial Navigation System is a navigation device that uses motion sensors ( accelerometers) , rotation sensors (gyroscopes) and a cumputer to continuously calculate by dead reckoning the position, the orientation and the velocity (direction and speed of movement) of a moving object without the need for external references.
- GNSS: Global Navigation Satellite System refers to a constellation of satellites providing signals from space that transmit positioning and timing data to GNSS receivers. The receivers then use this data to determine the location.
- NDDS: Naval Data Distribution System
- NDDCS: Naval Data Distribution & computing System
- AHRS: Attitude and Heading Reference Systems are a motion sensor that provide attitude information for aircraft. It contains an IMU with 3 gyroscopes, 3 accelerometers, 3 magnetormeters and a central processing units that embeds the Extended Kalman Filter.
- DSP: Delph Subsea Positioning is an intuitive and dynamic software package used to plan, operate and post-process Exail subsea positioning products.
- DVL: Doppler Velocity Log is a precision instrument, used to measure water current velocities over a depth range using the Doppler effect of sound waves scattered back from the seabed. It's one of the widely used equipment for underwater vehicles to achieve high-precision navigation.
- FOG: Fiber Optic Gyroscope senses changes in orientation using the Sagnac effect, thus performing the function of a mechanical gyroscope. However its principle of operation is instead based on the interference of light which has passed through a coil of optical fiber, that can be as long as 5 kilometers.
- USBL: Ultra Short BaseLine is a method of underwater acoustic positioning that consists of a transceiver, wich is mounted on a pole under a ship and a transponder or responder on the seafloor, on towfish or an ROV.
- LBL: Long BaseLine is an other method of underwater acoustic positioning that is used to track underwater vehicles and divers.
- IMU: Inertial Measurement Unit is an electronic device that measures and reports a body's specific force, angular rate and sometimes the orientation.
- EOD
: Explosive Ordnance Disposal render safe all types of ordnance, including improvised, chemical, biological and nuclear. From location, identification, render-safe, and recovery of foreign and domestic ordnance.
- TS: Target Strength split beam is a measure of the area of a sonar target. This is usually quantified as a number of decibels.
- SV: Volume backscattering strength
- BS: Backscattering Strength (and bathymetry) is the reflection of waves, particles or signals back to the direction from wich they came. It usually diffuse reflection due to scattering, as opposed to specular reflection, although specular backscattering can occur at normal incidence with a surface
Terminology In The Industrial Sector
- OECI: Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute focuses on mapping and characterizing the nation's submerged resources, developing and deploying new technologies and to engage futur generations of ocean scientists, engineers and stakeholders.
- NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is charged with forecasting weather, monitoring ocean and atmospheric conditions, charting the ses, conduction deep sea exploration, managing fishing, protection of marine mammals and endangered species in the U.S exclusive economic zone
- SHOM: French Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service is a french public administrative establishment operating for maritime and coastal geographic information. Heir to the first official hydrographic service in the world (1720).
- BAS: British Antartica Survey has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues and to provide an active presence in the Antartic on behalf of the United Kingdom.
- IFREMER: French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea, a state-run and funded scientific organization focus, it is France's national integrated marine science research institute
- FAT: Factory Acceptance Tests consist of a process of verifying that a solution works for the user. The main goal is to ensure that the solution is effectively operable.
- SAT: Site Acceptance Test is a process used to verify that a system meets the requirements of the customer or user. It is usually conducted at the customer's site after the system has been installed.
- CC: Command and Control is the exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commander over assigned and attached forces in the accomplishment of the mission.