Bathymetry Kit is a simple and affordable way to map the bottom of a lake, pond, or small water area. It is designed for people who actually need results, not a complicated setup – surveyors, engineers, or anyone who wants to build a 3D depth map without investing in expensive equipment.
This is not a finished “black box” device in a plastic case. Instead, it is a complete working system that you can install into your own platform. You can put it on a small boat, integrate it into a USV, or even build a compact handheld setup. This approach keeps the cost lower and gives you full flexibility in how you use it.
The idea is very simple. You power the system, and it immediately starts recording data to the SD card. No extra steps, no complicated configuration. The sonar measures depth, the GPS provides position, and the logger stores everything together in a single file.
After the survey, you open the data in the application, and you can:
- view the recorded tracks and signals
- build a depth map
- visualize the bottom
- export results to CSV for further processing
You are not locked into a closed system. The data is available for your own workflows if you want to process it differently.
The kit works well for small-scale bathymetry tasks: local surveys, inspection jobs, or projects where you need a quick and reliable map of the bottom. It can be used on autonomous boats, but it is just as suitable for simple manual surveys.
If you already use an autopilot, you can connect it to the logger via MavLink. In this case, navigation data from your system will be recorded together with sonar data, which makes further processing more accurate and convenient.
At the same time, we are honest about what this system is. It is a single-beam sonar solution. To get a full map, you need to move across the area and cover it with tracks. It does not replace expensive multi-beam systems, but it gives you a very practical and cost-effective way to get real bathymetric data.
In short, this is a tool. Simple to start, flexible to use, and open enough to adapt to your own projects.
