Mobil Exploration and Producing Services, Inc., a unit of the Exploration and Producing Division of Mobil Oil Corporation, has awarded the Sperry Division, Great Neck, N.Y., of Sperry Corporation contracts to develop and produce one of the most advanced navigation systems ever developed for a commercial ship.
The navigation system will be used aboard Mobil's second Seismic Research Vessel, the Mobile Search, whose keel is expected to be laid in mid-1981 by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan.
The Sperry navigation system will allow Mobil to conduct worldwide seismic oil exploration with high positioning accuracy. Included in the equipment being provided by Sperry are: two Sperry MK 29 Mod 1 high accuracy gyrocompasses, a newly developed Sperry Parametric Array Doppler Sonar (PADS) system, two Sperry SRD 301 speed logs, two specially modified Sperry CAS II collision avoidance systems, a dual Sperry Universal Gyropilot and both X- and S-band models of the Sperry MK 4016 SEA-THRU radars.
In addition, Sperry will provide the computer equipment, Loran C and satellite navigation receivers and the navigation system displays and controls. The entire system will be integrated utilizing all available navigation inputs and appropriate sensor information to produce the best possible estimate of ship position and velocity at all times. Advanced signal processing programmed on a powerful 32-bit minicomputer will enable the Sperry navigation system to exceed the accuracy limitations in deep water of previous commercial navigation systems. The system is easily expandable to include inputs from a bottom acoustic transponder system and, when available, the Navstar Global Positioning System.