Established in 1986, Specialty Devices Incorporated is located in Wylie, Texas.

SDI manufactures bathymetric and sub-bottom survey systems, sediment vibracoring devices, and other specialized survey systems, such as motion reference units, diver tracking systems and ROV systems. SDI’s customers include government agencies, universities, research institutions, and environmental and geotechnical engineering firms all over the world.

Specialty Devices, Inc. provides various survey services, including hydrographic, sub-bottom, geophysical and sediment sampling services. SDI’s personnel have extensive background in bathymetric and sub-bottom profiling including surveys throughout the US and Canada, Indonesia, Brazil, Honduras, Taiwan, Ireland, Singapore, Italy, Panama, Oman, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, St. Thomas, Russia, Mexico, Sicily and open ocean international waters.

Our focus

Acoustic Bathymetric Survey and Sediment Mapping Solutions

SDI’s BSS+ system is ideal for surveying and mapping sediment thickness and sediment type in shallow water throughout reservoirs, harbors, and waterways and for pre- and post-dredge applications. BSS+ is a simple-to-operate, complete hydrographic survey and sub-bottom profiling system contained in a single portable splash-proof unit. A dual frequency Side Scan Sonar is available to operate on the BSS+ simultaneously with the bathymetric and sub-bottom profiling. The BSS+ sediment mapping is supplemented by SDI’s Vibecore-D vibracore sampler which can provide ground truth information for sediment type determination. This portable and low power requirement system is ideal for surveying in different marine environments.

Sediment Vibracore System

As a complement to SDI’s acoustic survey equipment, SDI has designed improved sediment vibracore sampling systems including the Vibecore-D product line for shallow and deep sediment coring in small boats. The handheld vibracore VibeCore-Mini product line has been added to improve handheld sediment sampling methods in areas with shallow water-saturated sediment.

Hydrographic/Geophysical Survey

SDI has the state-of-art equipment and dedicated crews to perform single beam bathymetry, multibeam bathymetry, sub-bottom profiling, sediment sampling services, electrical resistivity tomography, seismic reflection/refraction survey and drone GIS survey.

Equipment Rental

SDI offers both short and long-term rentals of our full product lines. This includes our Vibecore D, VibeCore Mini, BSS+ system, as well as our survey vessels. You can rent with the confidence from us with the finest equipment and customer support. Contact us for rental information.

Specialized Survey System

SDI also manufactures specialized survey systems, such as motion reference unit, diver tracking systems, and ROV systems for customers.