Why Would You Put a Multibeam Sonar on a Construction Barge?

Abstract: 

How can I use GPS – I need results in the field. I can't use RTK GPS because it's not accurate enough. Multibeam SONAR systems will never be affordable to anyone but government agencies. Why would you put a GPS unit on a bulldozer? These are all comments and questions commonly heard by and asked of the author, over the course of his career, and in their initial years of introduction, for what have all become truly transformative technologies.

Fortunate in having been exposed to each of these technologies as they were outliers at the left-hand side of the Technology Adoption Curve (TAC), otherwise known as “Innovators", the author presents a broad overview of the development and user implementation timeline of GPS and SONAR technologies. As he fills the area under the TAC with anecdotal recollections of Early Adopter, Early and Late Majority and, let's not forget – the Laggards.

Interesting enough, the technologies as referenced herein, have collectively returned to the Innovator portion of the Technology Adoption Curve. The author now hears the question, “Why would you put a SONAR on a construction barge?" Reference cases of multibeam SONAR installations on construction barges are given showing that the Early Adopters have begun filling in their “area under the curve" and the days of the Early Majority users are soon to follow. 

Presented by: 

Lou Nash
Measutronics Corporation

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