Testing facilities (systems reliability lab)
State-of-the-art testing facilities including pressure vessels and environmental chambers are available to hire at the NOC. These facilities enable the testing of all types of marine autonomous vehicles.
- Freshwater and saltwater ballasting tanks
- Environmental test chamber with shaker
- Pressure testing facility, including two hyperbaric pressure testing facilities and an immersion test tank
- Salt spray test chamber
- Co-ordinate Measuring Machine room
- Battery testing facility
- Calibration laboratory
- Communication aerial mast
- Waterfront launching capability
Pressure testing facility
Includes two hyperbaric pressure-testing facilities and an immersion test tank.
Pressure Test Tank PV1
- 952.5mm diameter × 1206.6mm deep
- PC controlled with hard copy on line reports available
- Working Pressure up to 680 bar
- The main lid has three entry/exit ports for monitoring equipment during the tests
Pressure test tank PV2
- 304.8mm diameter × 889mm deep
- Manual system
- Working Pressure up to 680 bar
- The lid has a single entry/exit port
Immersion tank
We have a 5m × 4m × 4m water depth test tank. A crane allows large items of equipment to be easily handled into and out of the tank. Windows in the sides of the tank allow for inspection of submerged items. Facilities exist for acoustic measurements, e.g., circle diagram plotting for transducers.
Other facilities
Other specialist testing and workshop facilities on the University of Southampton’s Highfield and Bolderwood campuses are available to access, subject to availability. These facilities include:
- Rapid prototyping
- Towing tank
- Wind tunnels
If you would like more information about the hire of our workshop and testing facilities, or would like to see specification documents for each of our facilities, contact us.