Acquisition system takes wireless approach

A novel cable free remote data acquisition and transmission system is set to revolutionise the global seismic industry.

New from Vibtech, Unite is a novel cable free remote data acquisition and transmission system which is set to revolutionise the global seismic industry.

Developed at the company's base in Scotland, Unite is the world's lightest, most flexible and reliable seismic acquisition system.

It offers unlimited channel capacity without the straightjacket of digital cables and connectors or VHF radio transmission The Unite system is based on lightweight stand-alone single channel units, each of which operates entirely independently of any others.

It uses Vibtech's Cellular Seismic acquisition system, which divides the survey area into a number of radio cells, each controlled by a cell access node (CAN), which gives a massive bandwidth for data transmission.

Unite offers complete flexibility in any on-land seismic data acquisition operation by effectively tackling the six main problems associated with cable-based systems and cutting overall costs by up to 50%.

First, the lack of cables means that a Unite system is up to 80% lighter that cable-based systems.

Secondly, Unite can provide a complex network in the most hostile environments (eg dense jungle and hill areas).

Thirdly, Unite can reduce costs by eliminating the expense of maintaining thousands of cables and digital connectors.

Fourthly, Unite reduces the weight of the system by several tones.

Use of Unite can reduce manpower levels by two thirds with associated environmental benefits Fifthly, use of Unite reduces vehicle movements, environmental disturbance and emissions.

And finally, unlike cable-based systems, there is no need to deploy Unite systems in regular patterns.

This can lead to improved sampling of the subsurface.

Integrated into each unit are: GPS for positioning and synchronisation; lithium-ion batteries with capacity for a normal deployment cycle; and a large high density memory, sufficient to record days of acquisition.

If real time recording of data is required, users can deploy either wireless or fibre optic links between the cells.

If it is not critical, users can either receive a reduced bit record for quality control and display in real time at the recorder, whilst writing the data to memory for subsequent harvesting, or record the data to memory, with alarms when individual units' performance falls outside a predetermined tolerance.

Unite can easily be adapted to individual customer needs.

Options include an external battery pack for longer use, enhanced memory capacity for longer period recording between data harvesting, cable option between units, multiple channel units and a digital sensor interface.

Doug Gibson, Vibtech CEO said: "Unite is the ultimate land seismic acquisition system, offering users complete flexibility in their operations".

"The benefits of the Unite system have been recognised by our customer base and we are currently in discussions with a number of parties to use the system".

"At present, we anticipate that we will be running initial field trials during the second quarter of 2006 ahead of a full scale field trial later in the year 2006".

"We truly believe that Unite is the answer to the explorationist's prayers, which have gone unanswered for too long".

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