Yellowcat

Photo Credit: Chris Sherwood USGS Woods Hole Science Center

Compact, High Agility, Light Weight

Minatare twin-screw electric catamaran - extremely light and portable designed for single person launch, operation and recovery.

  • Portable - supports back-pack carry-in and 2 person operation

  • Skid-steer type agility - ideal for waypoint loitering in aggressive currents

  • Plenty reserve power to support shore launch and recovery

  • Efficient hull design & integrated sensor payloads result in high productivity

Hull Type

Catamaran hulls constructed from advanced composites for maximum durability, impact resistance and field serviceability.
Designed specifically for efficient operation at survey speeds (~1.5 m/s)

Sensor Payload

Easily configured payload mounting allows a wide variety of small sensors up to 5 kg. Standard payload elements:

Single Beam Echosounder

Cerulean S500 or Echologger ECS (200/450 kHz)
Integrated to onboard data acquisition with future upgrades allowing real-time depth telemetry to Operator Basestation

GNSS

Emlid Reach M2
cm-level GNSS with dual-band support (L1/L2) PPK
RTK support integrated to Cerulean S500 when equipped

Integrated IMU

Attitude (roll, pitch) measured by Ardupilot
Compensation applied when angles exceed width of beampattern (±5/2.5° for S500 200/450 kHz)
The Z location used for heave compensation / water level measurement used to calculate wave heights, tidal water levels or surge.

Specifications

Physical

Motor: 645 W (Max) BLDC outrunner @ 20 VDC (per thruster)
Propulsion: Dual Prop Thrusters
Hull Construction: Fiberglass
Overall Dimensions LxWxH: 40 x 24 x 14" / 1000 x 610 x 350 mm
Draft (without sensors): 6"/ 150 mm
Mass (approx.): 11 lb / 5 kg

Capability

Mission Payload Capacity: 11 lb / 5 kg
Shallowest Launch Depth: 8" / 200 mm
Typical Endurance1: 6 Hrs
Max Survey Speed: 4 kt / 2 m/s (3 kt / 1.5 m/s optimum)
Max Cruise Speed: 4 kt / 2 m/s
Max Wind: 15 kt / 7.5 m/s
Max Wave2:: 1/2 foot (0.15m) typ. (sea state 2)
1Endurance taken at @ 1.5 m/s survey speed, 26Ah (416 Wh) total battery capacity under actual field operating conditions in enclosed ponds.
2Max Wave Height depends on wave period and amount of breaking

Measured Accuracy

3-5 cm (PPK GPS) vessel XYZ position relative to NAD83/NAVD88 or user-selected datum
Approx. 5 cm RMSEz compared to GPS pole mount measurements
2 cm RMSE3 or ± 10 cm maximum error when track lines are sampled similarly with equipment and methods established by U.S. Government Agencies (USACE)
3Interpolation between track lines introduces a substantial error component in reconstructing bathymetric surfaces from SBES data and is therefore dependent on track spacing.