Singapore's Offshore Industry Recovering
, which may happen probably next year," he said. "They are slowly increasing their investment but not in a big way. Demand is still pretty slow."Growth in Singapore's trade-reliant economy had slowed in the wake of the oil price crash. It has since recovered as output in sectors like electronics surged, though economists say the city-state faces growing headwinds from a bitter U.S.-China trade dispute.Dwindling ContributionThe offshore and marine engineering industry's direct output contribution has more than halved since 2014 to about 1 percent of the city-state's economy, but
Kreuz Subsea Names Liew CFO
in driving growth and profitability through the implementation of key operating structures. His previous roles include VP Finance at ALSTOM Grid where he was CFO for ALSTOM’s EPC business in the Asia Pacific region. Prior to ALSTOM, Liew also held key finance and strategy positions with SONY Electronics Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, and SingTel Ltd.Liew’s appointment completes Kreuz Subsea’s leadership team. He is the company’s fifth executive hire since AJ Jain took over the reins as chief executive officer in October 2017. In June, Jerry Starling joined as director of diving. In April
Seafloor Crawlers: New Robotic Tools for Challenging Missions
payloads to be mounted within minutes, without concern of payload shape, volume, or weight. Payloads have included salinity, turbidity, sonic velocity depth, various cameras, imaging sonar, release-able buoys, soil penetrometers, and electromagnetic sensor sleds, among others.Batteries and all electronics are included within the track volume maximizing free volume for the payload bay while minimizing “bottoming-out.” The wide track results in ground pressures of less than 1.3-kilopascal, when dry or 0.43 kilopascal when submerged. Track design can be modified for more aggressive grip
Exocetus Delivers Glider to Johns Hopkins APL
,” said Joe Turner, Exocetus COO & General Manager. The delivery took place at the end of July and represents the culmination of two years of developments and improvements to the MOD2 Glider. Exocetus has been improving on its Coastal Glider, expanding the computing and electronics capability of the already proven system.“This is a big step,” Turner said. “To deliver our first updated vehicle to such a technically competent and knowledgeable customer really speaks volumes for the technology, and provides us with insightful feedback to continue to improve
Kraken Bags AquaPix Sonar Contract
high-priority, high-potential growth area. We thank our customer for their ongoing confidence in our technology and products.”AquaPix is designed for operation on Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), manned and unmanned surface vessels and towed platforms. The modular system uses the latest electronics, transducer arrays and real-time signal processing software optimized for the demanding size, weight, power and cost constraints of unmanned maritime vehicles.To fully realize the potential of unmanned systems, underwater vehicles must carry sensors to observe the underwater environment, and sensor
MTR100: The Ones to Watch
or low-power applications, with 24v DC, 50 Watt power transfer and 100 Mbps Ethernet plus serial data transfer, while Fonn offers 24v DC, 250 Watt power transfer. Both have the same Ethernet and serial data transfer as Torden.WiSub’s connectors use high-frequency microwave communication electronics to transfer data at high speed and use inductive resonance to transfer power, as they can coexist without interference. Using induction and microwave electronics also means the connectors have axial freedom and wide angular misalignment tolerances and don’t face wear issues – unlike
Scientists Complete 1700km Autonomous Acoustics Mission
Robotics’ Operations Team from their California headquarters in Silicon Valley almost 9,000 km away and covered over 1,700km at sea.For this mission, Cefas’ Lyra was fitted with the new Simrad EK80 broadband echosounder with two transducers (200kHz and 70kHz), utilizing a version of the electronics that has been specifically designed for autonomous surface vehicles called the WBT Mini. The system was self-contained with its own dedicated battery and used in standalone mode. Lyra collected acoustic data continuously for 23 days on the organisms in the water-column at very high resolution
Taking UUVs Faster, Further & Deeper
payload, running at peak efficiency gives the micro-UUV a range of a little more than 100 nautical miles in 33 hours. This presumed an operating speed of 3.0 knots. At 0.5 knots the same vehicle configuration could run for three days.In early 2018, Riptide announced a near-total redesign of internal electronics resulting in a new MKII µUUV. This offered a nearly 60% reduction in hotel load power to 3.8 Watts from its first-generation boards. It also reduced the internal wire count in the vehicle by 80%, simplifying the vehicle further. This traditional battery based performance is more than adequate
Powering the Seafloor: Put a Socket in It
, senior sales operations manager, technology and solutions center for oil and gas at BHGE. Strand, speaking at the Subsea Valley conference in Oslo in March, cites a 10-20 percent typical lifecycle cost saving, from going all electric, with 25 percent in some cases.Who is Doing What?Moving power electronics subsea is no easy task. Nevertheless, companies including ABB, Siemens and Baker Hughes, a GE Company (BHGE), are working on solutions, by either marinizing already proven components (VSDs, switchgear, transformers, etc.) in one atmosphere containers, or creating and qualifying new components
Deep Ocean Exploration is the 21st Century ‘Space Race’
modern-day race have different approaches and are working to solve a number of challenges associated with operating in seawater and at great pressures. An inevitable outcome from this will be the spin-off technologies that develop into new economic opportunities, such as cheap 3D-printed casing for electronics that can withstand up to 5,600 lbs. per square inch of pressure.Primarily through private industry, a race is currently underway and focused on four kilometers below the ocean’s surface. Today, teams are letting robots do the work of aquanauts with artificial intelligence and virtual reality
WiSub’s Universal AUV Connector
reliable over multiple mating cycles since there are no dynamic seals that wear out, a far more forgiving mating tolerance, immunity to contamination and no pins to align, break or bend. A reduced mechanical complexity is valuable in increasing reliability, and justifies the application of solid-state electronics. There are further enhancements that an intelligent connector can provide which ‘simple’ pins cannot, such as localized network diagnostics.” One of the vital breakthroughs that made the UAC concept viable relates to WiSub’s patented high-speed, high frequency
Digital Ocean: Making Subsea Data More Easily Accessible
communication gateway buoy, detecting tsunamis. Subsea Monitoring Analysis and Recording Transponder (SMART) – SMART has been developed to cover complex asset monitoring applications. Also part of Sonardyne’s Sixth Generation (6G) product range, the system combines low-power electronics, long-duration data logging, subsea data processing and acoustic telemetry into a single, easily deployed instrument. SMART has the flexibility to interface with a wide range of internal and external sensors and other data sources utilizing standard or bespoke data analysis algorithms to provide
Forum Energy Technologies Launches Electric ROV Range
of tether length. It uses the same advanced Forum Integrated Control Engine (ICE++) found in larger work-class and trencher vehicles in the Forum product range. This provides a wide range of auto-pilot and pilot assist modes when appropriate sensors are fitted. The advanced control electronics pod fitted to all Forum XLe electric vehicles enables superior connectivity and expansion capabilities when compared with other ROVs on the market. Ethernet interfacing allows for seamless integration with other industry sensors using common IP architecture and ease of remote data transfer.
Riptide Launches Second Generation µUUV
; unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) product during Oceanology International 2018 in London. According to the manufacturer, the new MK II product has focused on performance and manufacturability improvements over the existing MK I µUUV. Through a near-total redesign of internal electronics the new MKII µUUV offers a nearly 70 percent reduction in hotel load power to 3.5 Watts, extending vehicle endurance across the vehicle speed regime. In addition, new manufacturing approaches, including increased use of molded, rather than 3-D printed, parts allow for expanded depth
ASV Global to Supply USV to University of Southern Mississippi
worldwide” said Thomas Chance, CEO ASV Global. The C-Worker 5 is an 18’ long, purpose-built diesel powered USV with an endurance of 7 days at 7 knots. It has a keel flange for subsurface payload equipment and an air conditioned 19” rack in the hull for topside payload electronics. The C-Worker 5 can also accommodate an oceanographic winch and A-frame that can be used to deploy a variety of sensors. ASV Global has developed an accompanying dual davit launch and retrieval system, so the USV can be deployed from a ship. The complete USV and LARS system can
Proserv Secures $5.5 Mln Repsol Contract
that embraces our core philosophy of ‘ingenious simplicity’.” As part of the workscope, Proserv will engineer, manufacture and supply all associated topside and subsea equipment. The refurbishment and servicing of the subsea control modules and the manufacturing of the subsea electronics modules and master control station will be delivered by the company’s subsea controls experts in Trondheim and Stavanger, Norway. Each control module will include Proserv’s award-winning Artemis 2G (A2G) subsea electronics modules which are designed to be compatible with existing infrastruc
ROV Roundup: Recent Tech Innovations
to the vehicle regardless of tether length.It uses the same advanced Forum Integrated Control Engine (ICE++) found in larger work-class and trencher vehicles in the Forum product range. This provides a wide range of auto-pilot and pilot assist modes when appropriate sensors are fitted.The control electronics pod fitted to all Forum XLe electric vehicles is designed to enable superior connectivity and expansion capabilities when compared with other ROVs on the market. Ethernet interfacing allows for seamless integration with other industry sensors using common IP architecture and ease of remote data
