Overview
The Omniscan 3D by Cerulean Sonar is an advanced underwater imaging system that bridges the gap between side-scan sonar and multibeam echo sounders. Operating at 450 kHz, it utilizes a 16-channel receive array to calculate vertical angles for every target, generating high-resolution 3D point clouds in real time.
Unlike traditional side scan sonars that project data onto flat surfaces, the Omniscan 3D renders imagery onto a true 3D mesh via the SonarView application. This enables precise bathymetric mapping and visualization of complex vertical structures like dock pilings. It offers professional-grade spatial awareness for ROVs and surface vessels at a highly accessible price point.
Omniscan 3D adds a 3rd dimension to side scan sonar, rendering the image on a true 3D surface in accurate geometric location while simultaneously capturing a full point cloud of the bottom and targets within the water column.
Omniscan 3D excels at capturing bathymetric data over a wide swath even in shallow water.
Omniscan 3D operates at 450 kHz and shares the same fan beam transducers as the corresponding Omniscan 450 products. In addition, Omniscan 3D incorporates a 16 channel receive-only transducer to calculate the vertical angle of each target. You might say it’s somewhere between an interferometric side scan and a multibeam echo sounder.
Full Point Cloud
With high resolution image data and slant range from the side scan transducer, plus target angle from the receive array, a full set of points is created along each ping, building a full point cloud data set as the scan progresses via rotation and/or translation.
High Resolution Image on True 3D Mesh
SonarView calculates a true 3D mesh representing the bottom profile, and renders the high resolution Omniscan image on this mesh at its true location in 3D space. In addition, structures within the water column such as the dock pilings and weed beds are rendered separately in a point cloud format as shown in the following image.
System Variants
Omniscan 3D
Often referred to as the All-in-one unit, or AIO, this is the flagship variant of the Omniscan 3D family. This device contains an onboard Raspberry Pi 5 and Ethernet switch and is fully self contained, requiring no additional watertight enclosure space. If you are buying a new system, this is the one to get.
Key strengths of this variant over the Upgrade Kit models listed below:
No additional watertight enclosure required. Fully self contained.
No additional computer or computing resources required. All beamforming calculations performed on device
Less network bandwidth required, as only the processed data must be transmitted
More robust networking due to the tight integration of the Raspberry Pi compute module and the sonar electronics.
Units can be linked in series, using the device's built-in ethernet switch.
Omniscan 3D 450 SS Modular
This variant of the Omniscan 3D is a modular system to accommodate pre-existing Omniscan 450 hardware. It is intended for deployment in a side scan application. A single unit may be used for a single sided application. Order a pair for typical port + starboard deployment.
Available with support for BlueOS-based vehicles, or for integrators with sufficient technical capabilities to manage networking configuration and installation of a Docker container on a suitable Linux host.
An additional watertight enclosure will be needed to house a Linux computer (that you provide) as well as the Omniscan 450 PCB. For this reason, if you are buying a new system, it is advised to purchase the AIO system shown above. It ends up being more compact, runs faster, and is simpler to integrate anyway.
Omniscan 3D Upgrade Kit
A key aspect of the Omniscan 3D architecture is that it is possible to upgrade any of the current Omniscan products to 3D capability by adding the new Omniscan 450 RX16 receive array module. This includes the very popular Omniscan 450 SS which is the initial focus, but the 3D capability can equally apply to the OS 450 FS, and the OS 450 Compact.
The Omniscan 450 RX16 Receive Array listens to the sonar echo signal on 16 hydrophone channels directed along the same (horizontal) axis as the transmit beam from the Omniscan 450 SS. At each range step, the phase of each of the 16 received signals are combined using advanced DSP algorithms to determine the vertical angle from which the echo was received.
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