USBL

What is the definition of USBL?

Stands for ultra-short baseline. USBL is a positioning technology that detects acoustic (sound) signals via a hydrophone array to calculate the range and direction to the acoustic source, based on the reception time of the soundwave at each hydrophone.

Read the full article “”Untangling USBL – comparing the benefits of USBL-squared (USBL2) with classic and inverted USBL“.

Image depicting classic USBL operation, where a transducer at the surface vessel emits an acoustic ping.

• Transponders that detect the ping, emit a ping back.
• The return ping is processed to provide range and direction information of the transponder.
• Position is attained at each ping only, so motion data between pings is not logged.

In the example, the green circles are the pings, the red line is the [unknown] actual path of motion, the blue line is the estimated travel path. Heading of the tracked object is relatively unknown.

What are the applications for USBL?

• Autonomous Agriculture
• Aerospace
• Automotive
• Defence
• Marine
• Subsea
• Surveying

What other terms are related to USBL?

• Acoustic
• Acoustic Compass
• AUV
• Azimuth
• Bearing
• DVL
• USBL-squared
• Inverted USBL

Read more about USBL or related topic

Advanced Navigation’s glossary covers the most common terms and definitions used in inertial navigation systems, acoustic positioning and robotics.

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MEMS GNSS / INS

FOG GNSS / INS

Satellite Compass

MEMS IMU

USBL

Transponders

Micro-AUV