Cameras

Oceaneering Donates ROVs to Global Ocean

US-based ocean science nonprofit Global Oceans, has acquired, via a donation from Oceaneering, three deep-sea exploration vehicles rated to6000 meters of operational depth.The donation includes the Magellan 725 ROV, the Ocean Discovery ROV, and the Ocean Explorer 6000 Towed Sonar System, together with the infrastructure needed to deploy the vehicles including winches, cranes, power systems, operational modules, workshops, and supplies."These vehicles contributed to several historic projects, including the successful recovery of the lost Apollo “Liberty Bell 7” space capsule from the

Teledyne to Acquire FLIR Systems in $8 Billion Deal

Industrial conglomerate Teledyne Technologies Inc said on Monday it will acquire thermal imaging camera supplier FLIR Systems Inc in a $8 billion cash-and-stock deal to beef up its portfolio of imaging sensor technology.FLIR shareholders will receive $28 in cash and 0.0718 shares of Teledyne common stock for each share held, the companies said.That implies a purchase price of $56.14 based on Teledyne’s last close, and represents a premium of 28.1% for FLIR shareholders to the stock’s Thursday close.Teledyne and FLIR sell cameras and sensor systems.“Our technologies and products are

Chile's Underdeep Solutions Adds Another Falcon ROV

Chile's Underdeep Solutions has expanded its ROV Fleet with a third Seaeye Falcon ROV, to support its aquaculture workUnderdeep’s latest Falcon is the second 1000m deep-rated version for the company, which specializes in fish farm inspection and support throughout Chile and the region.Underdeep's three Falcons are currently working at full capacity in the aquaculture facilities of the major aquaculture company, Salmones Camanchaca.In addition, Underdeep Solutions has been working for several years in the removal of structures from the Salmones Camanchaca concessions, as requested by

Technology: New Manta Underwater Camera

Arctic Rays, LLC has released Manta HD, a small HD-IP or HD-SDI underwater camera.  The Onvif profile S compliant Manta HD camera is capable of a resolution of 1920 x 1080 at 30 fps (1080p30 full HD), features a 30x optical zoom and on-board recording to an SD card.  An additional connector is offered to provide power and control for an external pan & tilt or light.The camera measures 82.6mm (3.25in) diameter by 198mm (7.8in) long with connector and weighs 1.21 kg (2.67 lbs) in air and .34 kg (.75 lbs) in seawater. Housed in a 6061-T6 AHC aluminum housing with acrylic lens, it is rated

New HD-IP or HD-SDI Manta Camera Released

Arctic Rays, LLC has released Manta HD, a small HD-IP or HD-SDI underwater camera.  The Onvif profile S compliant Manta HD camera is capable of a resolution of 1920 x 1080 at 30 fps (1080p30 full HD), features a 30x optical zoom and on-board recording to an SD card.  An additional connector is offered to provide power and control for an external pan and tilt or light.The compact design measures 82.6mm (3.25in) diameter by 198mm (7.8in) long with connector and weighs 1.21 kg (2.67 lbs) in air and .34 kg (.75 lbs) in seawater. Housed in a 6061-T6 AHC aluminum housing with acrylic lens, it is

Unmanned Marine Systems, Squared

, who leads the glider programme at the University of East Anglia (UEA), and who came up with the idea. “It means we can deploy gliders or other vehicles in the middle of the ocean without having to send a ship there. We can be more efficient. We can choose when to deploy it,” she told the Marine and Autonomous Technology Showcase (MATS) conference last year. “AutoNaut can sit and wait for a Tsunami, an eruption or spring bloom and can also deploy into places too dangerous to go for a manned vessel. And they can get simultaneous measurements. In Antarctica that’s very important

Tech File: Offshore Real-Time Video Streaming Solution Debuts

SubC Imaging released its new Offshore Real-Time Video Streaming Solution. The low-latency video streaming solution enables live streaming of subsea video from ROV, and other subsea systems, allowing decision-makers real-time operation of remote assets from anywhere in the world.The cloud-based service is of particular interest today as many offshore operations have been affected by COVID-19. Many teams are unable to travel, and where travel is possible, there are new vessel capacity restrictions. SubC’s Offshore Real-Time Streaming allows staff onshore to view live video without taking up

Barcodes to Drive Down Pipeline Inspection Costs

support for subsea drones equipped with Forssea cameras and iXblue’s inertial navigation systems that relay the pipelines’ locations to the operators, thus removing the need for acoustic positioning systems and costly mother vessels.Per the project participants, the markers are resistant to marine growth and erosion. Thus they will remain visible to divers and subsea drones throughout the project’s lifespan,“This technology had already proven itself on large structures in the field,” said Jean-Guillaume Besse, Vallourec R&D project leader. “Back in January of this

Xerox and DARPA Partner to Develop IoT Ocean Sensors

.Initially announced by DARPA in 2017, the Ocean of Things project is deploying small, low-cost drifters in the Southern California Bight and Gulf of Mexico to collect data on the environment and human impact. This includes sea surface temperature, sea state, surface activities and even information on marine life moving through the area.“Oceans cover more than 70% of the earth’s surface, but we know very little about them,” said Ersin Uzun, vice president and general manager of the Internet of Things team at Xerox. “The drifters gather data that we could never track before, enabling

Seabed Imaging Re-imagined

accidents. The end result for either method is usually extensive, lengthy post-processing on the vast amounts of gathered data.A new, 3D deep-sea imaging system, developed by the University of Southampton, with support from Sonardyne, under the Natural Environment Research Council’s OCEANIDS Marine Sensor Capital “BioCam” program, has gone a long way to resolving these challenges.During its first 24-hour deployment, a BioCam fitted to an Autosub6000 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), from the UK’s National Oceanography Centre (NOC), mapped more than 50 times the area of

Saab Seaeye Cracks into the Superyacht Security Market

For superyacht owners, eyes beneath the waves, provided by intelligent underwater robotic vehicles, is a valuable resource. Yacht security company, MarineGuard, includes the Saab Seaeye Falcon underwater robotic vehicle as part of its security system for superyachts.MarineGuard is known for creating a ‘virtual security bubble’ around a yacht, and the Falcon is a powerful tool in this regard as it can examine a yacht’s hull millimeter by millimeter with its HD cameras, and descend down 1000 meters to explore the seabed below.Superyacht owners often view the underwater world live on

Ocean Startup Challenge Awards 14 Companies $25K Each

airboats for inland and coastal water monitoring and surveying applications. Their boats are built to be simple and straightforward to operate, easy for users to customize with add-on equipment, and reliable in operation.Kavacha.ca (Canoe Cove, PE) uses fish waste to provide active protection to marine industries through direct-to-metal coatings in harsh environments. Their solution saves users more than 30% on material and labor, while increasing or maintaining asset lifetime, reducing toxin exposure/imprint, and providing a high-volume value add for a fishery waste stream.Marecomms Inc. (Halifax

VIDEO: Barcode Tags Could Cut Subsea Pipeline Inspection Costs

drones equipped with Forssea cameras and iXblue’s inertial navigation systems that relay the pipelines’ locations to the operators, thus removing the need for acoustic positioning systems and costly mother vessels. Per the project participants, the markers are long-term resistant to marine growth and erosion, thus they will remain visible to divers and subsea drones throughout the project’s lifespan,"This technology had already proven itself on large structures in the field”, said Jean-Guillaume Besse, Vallourec R&D project leader. “Back in January of this

Subsea Technology and the New Routes to Residency

Efforts to increase remote capability often go hand in hand with increasing ROV residency. But exactly what form residency takes is diverging. Elaine Maslin takes a look.Dial back the clock five years and there was a movement towards an idea dubbed subsea resident remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). The idea, in simple terms, is that you increase ROV availability and reduce cost and carbon emissions by having the vehicle permanently based subsea in underwater garages. A number of vehicles could even cover a cluster of fields, potentially with different owners who can dial up, on demand, a vehicle when

Interview: RDML Gallaudet Steers NOAA’s Path Toward Uncrewed Maritime Systems

health and conservation by the public. There’s an increased awareness about the dependence of our security and our economy on the oceans. People simply care a lot more (today).• A growing awareness of the necessity for sustainable use of our oceans, which includes everything from fisheries, to marine transportation, to critical minerals and pharmaceuticals. Using that same time frame, put in perspective the evolution of unmanned maritime systems as you see it.To start, just this week we’ve decided we are going to move from the word ‘unmanned’ to ‘uncrewed.’

Charting Terradepth's Big Ambitions in the Unmanned Vehicle Space

Kauffman, with a mission to increase seafloor mapping rates economically and to create a business based on the data it gathers.Terradepth CEO Joe Wolfel.An ocean data challengeTheir focus came from personal experience, specifically the collision of the USS San Francisco – a nuclear powered submarine – with a seamount at flank speed in 2005. While they were deployed in Iraq at the time, it was big new. “How does the US navy not know there's a mountain underwater? That idea stuck in our heads,” explains Wolfel. They did a little digging and discovered that 70% of the earth

Eager Wins 2020 Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler Contest

ASL Environmental Sciences said that Dannielle Eager is the winner of the fifth annual Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler (AZFP) early career scientist award contest. Dannielle is presently studying at the University of Plymouth at Devon, UK at a postgraduate level in the school of Biological and Marine Science.Eager’s research will focus on the influence of dynamic seamount oceanography on pelagic biota in the tropical Indian Ocean, with support from the Garfield Weston Foundation, Bertarelli Foundation and the University of the Highlands and Islands. In contrast to surrounding waters, seamounts

New Corals Discovered at Great Barrier Reef

Australian scientists have viewed the deepest regions of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, discovered five undescribed species consisting of black corals and sponges and recorded Australia’s first observation of an extremely rare fish. They also took critical habitat samples that will lead to a greater understanding of the spatial relationships between seabed features and the animals found in the Coral Sea.The complex and scientifically challenging research was completed aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor, on its fourth expedition of the year, as part of the Institute&

Panther Wins GOM Pipeline Inspection Deal

ACSM chose an electric Saab Seaeye Panther XT robotic vehicle for pipeline inspection in the Gulf of Mexico. The Panther inspected 261 pipelines totalling 2,340 km in four fields in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), at depths ranging from 15 to 130 metres, in a less than 10 month project duration.ACSM, a maritime, survey and ROV services operator, said that considerable savings come from deploying the 700 kg Panther system.Rated for 1000 m, Panther’s can accommodate a wide range of tooling with a ‘plug and go’ simplicity that makes it easy to change, maintain and repair systems.The ROV’s

Partnering on the Digital Ship: Inside Denmark’s ShippingLab

by the Danish maritime cluster, Blue Denmark. A lead partner is The Automation and Control Group within the Technical University of Denmark’s Department of Electrical Engineering which has researched autonomous systems for the past 25-30 years focusing on diverse application domains including marine craft. Around 2010-2011, in collaboration with the Royal Danish Navy, the group started a series of projects looking into the development of control and perception algorithms for achieving unmanned operation of a high-speed waterjet. Over a period of four to five years, this collaboration produced

Robotics: Autobots Transform in the Offshore Energy Sector

Robots and robotics have slowly been entering our lives, in various shapes and forms (and fictional characters), from self-driving household vacuum cleaners to highly automated manufacturing systems. Now they’re heading for the offshore world – in just as many shapes and forms.There could be a lot to gain from robotics, but platforms and offshore wind turbine structures are also very challenging places to put them on. For oil and gas, key drivers are around safety and cost . For the offshore wind sector, the sheer volume of structures being installed is driving a push for robotic systems

The Ocean's Microplastics Mess: Technology & Technique to Identify & Clean Up

The science and technology surrounding discovery, mitigation and clean-up of microplastics in the world’s environment makes this year’s “MTR100.” Here we offer insights on the organizations, people and technologies taking the lead.As marine journalists, scientists, technologists, activists and enthusiasts, we are aware of the large-scale impact that consumer macro-plastic products have on aquatic ecosystems. Ranging from plastic bags and straws to bottles and fishing nets, these materials pollute harbors, rivers, lakes and oceans, all while threatening the prosperity of wildlife

Ocean Influencer: Graham Hawkes, HAWX Open Ocean

The July/August edition of Marine Technology Reporter, the 15th Annual "MTR100", recognizes Graham Hawkes a subsea innovator, explorer, inventor and pusher of boundaries. A pioneer in the realm of ocean engineering, he’s designed and built more than 60 manned submersibles—everything from atmospheric dive suits to flying subs. As a test pilot, he’s maintained the deepest solo dive record for more than 20 years. He’s also the founder of HAWX Open Ocean LLC, created to design and build revolutionary marine technologies that enable undersea access to all.Inspired by

Welaptega's Riser Cleaning Tech in Successful Debut Offshore Norway

Underwater asset integrity company Welaptega's recently launched system for marine growth removal from offshore risers recently had a debut at Var Energi's Balder X project, in the North Sea, offshore Norway. Welaptega delivered the system called RCIS (Riser/Rope Cleaning and Inspection System) to the Norwegian offshore services company Ocean Installer, which used the RCIS for riser cleaning operations carried out in Norwegian waters as part of the Balder X project. This project with Ocean Installer marks the first occasion that an RCIS has been used in the field, Welaptega said.

Ocean Influencer: Karl Kenny, Kraken Robotics

The July/August edition of Marine Technology Reporter, the 15th Annual "MTR100", recognizes Karl Kenny and his Kraken Robotics team for moving forward fast on the evolution of subsea technology and business.Karl Kenny and Kraken Robotics are on a mission to revolutionize the way business is conducted subsea. It’s about high-quality data, collected, delivered and analyzed more regularly, liberally shared among a disparate group of stakeholders, from science to commerce to military. It’s about tossing out old norms and embracing different ways of doing business.Underwater vehicle

NOAA Grants Support Small Business Tech Development

system and integrated data management platformPacific Hybreed, Inc., Bainbridge Island, Wash., $149,862, for identifying genetic markers of resistance in oysters for Pacific oyster mortality syndrome.Lynntech, Inc., College Station, Texas, $149,991, for a rapid, simple diagnostic tool for pathogens in marine aquacultureShellfish Solutions, Castine, Maine, $150,000, for a tide-to-table traceability and marketing system for shellfish aquaculture.  Recreational and commercial fisheriesCreare LLC, Hanover, N.H., $149,361, for a low cost ocean temperature profiling sensorSafetySpect Inc., Los Angeles

Salvors Outline Plan to Recover Titanic's Telegraph System

Marine salvors on Wednesday outlined plans to recover the Marconi wireless telegraph from inside the RMS Titanic after being cleared by a U.S. judge in May to retrieve a piece of history from the world's most famous shipwreck.Originally scheduled to embark on the mission to recover the system this summer, the private company with exclusive rights to salvage artifacts from the ship announced it has shifted its expedition to spring/early summer of 2021 to abide by ongoing travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic."The safety of our crew, ports where we conduct business and foremost the

TDI-Brooks' New Vessel Completes Its First Projects

TDI-Brooks’ newest vessel R/V Miss Emma McCall has recently completed its first projects for the U.S.-based marine data acquisition services company on behalf of Total and Cairn Energy offshore Mexico. TDI-Brooks has the vessel on a long-term bare-boat charter from Cameron Offshore Boats.The 2003-built Miss Emma is a multi-use oceanographic research vessel outfitted for a wide variety of oceanographic research duties for operations in the Northern/Southern Gulf of Mexico (GOM), U.S. East Coast and elsewhere in the Americas. The vessel is equipped to acquire geophysical surveys for offshore

Army Corps' Data Driven to Improve Coastal Projects

In a hotel conference room on Long Island, New York, a team of experts are processing data and information on computers. Alongside them is a large display monitor screen that's projecting the information."It's a beautiful thing. On the screen they are able to observe the condition of New York's and New Jersey's coastlines almost in real-time," said Jeffrey Cusano, Geospatial Coordinator, New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.The team is the Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technical Center of Expertise.  Recently, Cusano and other members of the U.S. Army Corps

Using High Res 3D Meshes for improved Shape Reconstuction of Marine Survey Data

is beneficial anywhere that accurate shape reconstruction is of utmost importance. This can apply when proper identification and measurement of features is critical to risk management, and to a greater extent in situations where there will be close interaction with the surveyed objects. When performing marine salvage, construction, or asset inspection, it is critical to have the most comprehensible and accurate representation of the data.These applications highlight the differences between historical usages of mesh structures, and the new techniques now being introduced. Representations such as triangulated

VIDEO: Drone Inspects FPSO Tank. It Could Soon Do It On Its Own

Autonomous drones could soon be used for tank inspections on offshore installations, with data immediately analyzed by AI. This would boost safety and cut costs, as the need for scaffolding, and for technicians climbing on an into tanks for inspection would be eliminated.Drone company Scout Drone Inspection and DNV GL, the quality assurance firm company, that have been working together to develop an autonomous drone system to cut inspections costs, and to increase safety, have this week shared a major milestone in this area.DNV GL said Tuesday that a drone - controlled by a pilot - had successfully

Forum ROV Completes Trials for Vietnam Navy

completed harbor trials for the Vietnam Navy. The vehicle is the compact derivative of the XLX work class ROV, and is a heavy-duty work class hydraulic ROV with a depth rating of 4000m, outfitted with cameras, lights, altimeters and sonars.The Perry XLX-C will be used to support the Vietnamese’ submarine rescue vehicle in its operations during assessment and preparation of a site for a submersible rescue. The XLX-C is fitted with Forum’s latest technology and can deliver specialized equipment, including an Emergency Life Support System, to a distressed submarine. It was supplied with an Emergency

One-on-One with Duane Fotheringham, President, Unmanned Systems, HII

to Boeing on the Orca program, which broadens our portfolio and allows us to offer the full range of UUVs, from small class to extra large class.”HII is not simply a larger corporate entity, but one with a treasure trove of experience serving the U.S. Navy with both surface craft and nuclear submarines. “We are also able to leverage HII’s expertise in submarine and ship design to provide increased capability in platform integration,” said Fotheringham.With the move under the HII banner the Hydroid brand is transitioning into Huntington Ingalls Industries. According to Fotheringham

Robotics Community Gains Access to Xsens IMUs

Xsens, the manufacturer of motion sensing modules, has signed a sales distribution agreement with Clearpath Robotics, the manufacturer of robot development platforms, which will make it easier for R&D teams and university researchers to use the popular MTi-series of inertial measurement units (IMU, VRU, AHRS and GNSS/INS) in robot designs.Under the arrangement, Ontario, Canada-based Clearpath Robotics has been appointed as an authorized distributor of Xsens’ MTi-series with a regional focus on Canada and the Eastern United States.Clearpath Robotics enjoys close relationships with a broad

Global Reef Expedition: Mission to Tonga

of high-resolution habitat and bathymetric maps of Ha’apai, Vava’u, Niuatoputapu. Using multispectral WorldView-2 satellite imagery obtained from DigitalGlobe Inc., in combination with data obtained from aerial surveys and ground-truthing, we created high-resolution maps of the shallow marine environments in Tonga. These maps have been shared with government officials in Tonga and are available to explore on the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation World Web Map Portal (http://maps.lof.org/lof).To verify the accuracy of these maps, an underwater tethered video camera, called a drop-cam

First YM Efficiency Containers Retrieved

Work is underway to retrieve dozens of containers lost from a containership off the coast of Australia, with the first boxes raised to the surface this week. The first container was recovered from the seafloor on Monday using a hydraulic crane and rigging, remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROV) and a specially manufactured steel basket, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said. Another two boxes were lifted in the days following.The recovered containers are among more than 80 lost from containership YM Efficiency in the Tasman Sea, about 30 kilometers off Australia's east coast

NASA Asks Gamers, Citizen Scientists to Help Map World's Corals

these reefs provide homes for as many species as a tropical rainforest. Corals are at risk from rising ocean temperatures, pollution and ocean acidification. Scientists are seeking more data to understand the ways in which corals are responding to these forces.Reefs also play a part in combating disease. Marine systems – and particularly coral reefs – are often considered the "medicine cabinets" of the 21st century. Organisms such as sponges, mollusks and others that call reefs their homes have contributed to medicines used to treat viruses such as HIV and diseases such as cancer

Greensea’s New Ship Hull Crawler Tech Launches with VideoRay Defender ROV

Greensea introduces a new hull crawler that easily attaches a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) to a ship hull without magnetics, allowing the operator to “drive” the ROV and payloads over the hull. Initial hull crawlers are designed to work exclusively with the VideoRay Mission Specialist Defender ROV. The hull crawler represents a milestone in Greensea’s hull robotics program, which is advancing navigation and localization capabilities for a fully autonomous robotic hull inspection and proactive in-water cleaning solution.  “VideoRay is a valued Greensea partner with

SubSeaSail G6 Platform Passes the Test

The Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) along with logistical support from the US Navy successfully tested their SubSeaSail G6 platform at multiple coastal sites off the Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. Remote sensing applications for monitoring underwater unexploded ordnance were demonstrated by mounting a passive filter assembly to the G6 platform to detect explosive compounds in the water. Additionally, a water quality sensor was mounted to monitor other water quality parameters including temperature, salinity, depth, and turbidity.  During

Nido Robotics Debuts Two Underwater Drones

locate the wreckage of a downed USS Dakota plane. The thought occurred to him that deep-sea missions of that nature, often conducted in extreme conditions, would be made substantially easier and safer with the use of suitably adaptable, affordable and portable mini ROVs.The fact that Torgersen, a Master Mariner, couldn’t find anything on the market capable of meeting the standards he envisaged led him to co-found Nido Robotics in 2016 with business partner Enrique González. Basing their business in Murcia, Spain and assembling a crack team of technicians and scientific advisors around them

Ocean Infinity’s Hunt for the Submarine San Juan

The search for the Argentinian submarine was like hunting for the proverbial needle in a hay stack, except that it was a piece of straw. Elaine Maslin reports. At 7.19am, local time, on November 15, 2017, the last message was received from the San Juan submarine. She belonged to the Argentinian navy and was on a routine mission from Ushuaia in the Patagonia region to Mar del Plata in Buenos Aires province when she lost contact with the military.  Fifteen days later, neither the submarine nor any debris had been found and the crew of 44 sailors were presumed dead.  The loss made internatio

​Water Drone Christened in the Port of Hamburg

A 1.65-meter-long water drone, also known as unmanned surface vehicle (USV), was christened on Wednesday morning. The USV named Echo.1 is dedicated to measure water depth and can work continuously for up to six hours without emissions.Senator for Economic Affairs Michael Westhagemann and Jens Meier, Managing Director of the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA), Rike Verheye from the HPA Hydrography christened the yellow drone.According to HAP, Echo.1 will be able to travel up to six hours at a time in the harbor to improve the understanding of the water depths and provide information about the condition of

‘Hull Skate’ Your Way to Cleaner Hulls, Better Fuel Efficiency

When it come to ship efficiency and emission reduction, the next frontier is devising better means to keep hulls clean from biofouling in the five years between dry dockings. Finding best solutions on hull coating and cleaning is major point of focus among shipping majors globally.Last month in a feature interview in Maritime Reporter & Engineering News with Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCCL) Anshul Tuteja, Associate VP Global Fleet Optimization, it was made clear that coatings used on the RCCL fleet is a point of intense focus, particularly for Tuteja and his data analytics team, as making a mistake

Klein Chooses RadarWatch for Korean Offshore Wind Farm

Klein Marine Systems Selects Cambridge Pixel’s RadarWatch and Target Tracking Technology to Protect Korean Offshore Wind FarmCambridge Pixel, a developer of radar display, tracking and recording sub-systems, has supplied its RadarWatch coastal surveillance software, target tracking and radar recording technology to Klein Marine Systems, a subsidiary of Mitcham Industries, Inc. as part of a project to protect an offshore wind farm and its associated submarine transmission line off the coast of South Korea.Cambridge Pixel’s radar display, tracking and recording technology has been integrated

Pipeline IMR: An All-seeing Eye

offer the fastest fast way to environmental compliance and maintenance assessments over large areas.Speed is essential, for an environmental impact assessment survey — for an oilfield, a pipeline or a salmon farm — is only the start of site work. These early steps could entail photographing marine biology over an area that could comprise hundreds of kilometers (for a pipeline survey) or just a square mile for a salmon farm. For inspections of existing pipelines or other subsea infrastructure by ROV or UAV, the market offers no all-in-one survey tool of biology and pipeline health: bathymetric

Kongsberg Sells HUGIN AUV System to NIOT

underwater vehicle.Developed in partnership with FFI, the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, HUGIN continues to improve with new capabilities, sensors and behaviors being added each year.“We are honored to welcome NIOT to the HUGIN family,” said Richard Mills, Vice President of Marine Robotics Sales at Kongsberg Maritime. “Their new HUGIN AUV System is configured for their needs today and tomorrow with a multi-role capability. We look forward to working with the scientific teams from the Oceanographic Research Institutes of India over the coming years.&rdquo

Good Undersea Vehicles Come in Small Packages

The holiday season has just passed, and many may have heard the phrase, “good things come in small packages.” Does this hold true for today’s undersea vehicles? Indeed it does. One of the most striking recent trends in the field is the proliferation of compact and affordable, yet highly effective, undersea vehicles. The past decade has seen new remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) produced that are easily carried and deployed by one person. Capitalizing on developments in circuitry, sensors, and batteries inspired by the consumer electronics

Exploring Under The ice (& Keeping your AUV in one piece)

of factors led to these successful operations, and in this article we’ll discuss some of the inherent dangers of working under polar ice and how they were mitigated.Why are under AUV missions challenging?Every time an AUV descends to explore unknown regions, there is aPhoto: International Submarine Engineering Ltd. chance it can be lost. Even for AUVs the ocean is not a friendly place. The terrain it navigates is only partially mapped at high resolution; we know more about the surface of Mars than we do about our ocean floors.This said, there are ways to minimise the risks. There is always

Marine Autonomy Above & Below the Water

Marine autonomous systems and combinations of such systems are being increasingly put to the test in the offshore space. Elaine Maslin looks at how hybrid remote and autonomous systems are now being tested.Concepts like resident subsea vehicles, for inspection, repair and maintenance, are attractive options, but not the only ones being tried. Deploying remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) from unmanned surface vessels (USVs) are also being tested and put to use. It’s another way to take operators out of harm’s way, centralize operations and cut costs and environmental footprints. But, there&rsq

Forum ROV to Support Arctic Research

research icebreaker CCGS Amundsen. In 2020, it will be deployed at several locations spanning a latitudinal gradient from 58° to 77°N to study deep-water corals and cold seep eco-systems of the northern Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay. The project will generate critical knowledge of biodiversity and marine habitats needed for key ocean conservation initiatives in Canada”, said Dr. Alexandre Forest, Executive Director of Amundsen Science.The new Comanche ROV will be manufactured at Forum’s facility at Kirkbymoorside, Yorkshire and delivered in the first quarter of this year

@ SAMS, Science + Autonomy = Answers

Few sea and ocean-related research projects today do not involve some form of underwater robotic or marine autonomous system. Elaine Maslin reports on how they’re being used by the Scottish Association of Marine Science.Whether it’s large autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), gliders, landers, small man-portable AUV systems and even air-borne vehicles, unmanned systems have become a day-to-day tool. And, while ready built systems are now readily available, easy access to components is enabling researchers to assemble bespoke platforms to meet specific

Saab Seaeye for Gulf Pipeline Inspection

CCC Underwater Engineering is preparing to resume the second phase of a 2,000 km pipeline survey in the Arabian Gulf, totaling 316 pipelines. CCC are inspecting the final 102 pipelines using its Saab Seaeye Leopard underwater robot.Its objective is to achieve a baseline accuracy below 0.5 meters, which requires a large array of high definition filming and sensing equipment.The necessary array aboard the Leopard includes three HD cameras with movie quality 1080i interlacing, two Kongsberg M3 profiling sonars, Sonardyne Mini-Ranger and SPRINT-Nav 500 Hybrid INS, Valeport bathy suite including

Hybrid Autonomous Systems Evolve

Marine autonomous systems and combinations of such systems are being increasingly put to the test in the offshore space. Elaine Maslin looks at how hybrid remote and autonomous systems are now being tested.Concepts like resident subsea vehicles, for inspection, repair and maintenance, are attractive options, but not the only ones being tried. Deploying remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) from unmanned surface vessels (USVs) are also being tested and put to use. It’s another way to take operators out of harm’s way, centralize operations and cut costs and environmental footprints. But, there&rsq

Coda Octopus Debuts Echoscope AIR

uniquely by Echoscope users, Coda Octopus said. Providing the same real-time volumetric 3D data as the Echoscope allows use of real-time and post-processing software applications (Underwater Survey Explorer and CMS).The initial focus for Echoscope AIR is to provide new benefits for a number of key marine construction applications including:Breakwater Construction: The Echoscope AIR can visualize the movement and track blocks above waterline for the first time. The Echoscope AIR  fully integrated within the CodaOctopus Construction Monitoring Software (CMS) and is directly interchangeable for

Subsea Robots in the Splash Zone

From their base deep within a former World War II U-boat pen, Norwegian outfit, OceanTech, is developing a set of robot tools that cling to offshore structures in order to effect inspection, maintenance and repair, or IMR. Old submarine anchorages are now subsea testing and training sites, but the North Sea is still the target. Hundreds of aging platforms and subsea structures require IMR that’s too costly, complex or hazardous for divers or remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs.As he walks us through Dora II, the original name of the U-boat pen,  OceanTech CEO, Berndt Schjetne, points to

Rovco Nets $6.5 Mln Investment

Subsea technology firm Rovco announced it has secured £5 million ($6.5 million) in new funding to support international expansion and continued development of 3D computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI) subsea technology.The funding includes a £3.9 million ($5.1 million) Series A investment from Foresight group via the Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund and Foresight VCTs as part of a larger round including funds from existing shareholders.Formed in 2015, Rovco has invested  heavily in the development of an AI driven data platform and live 3D vision systems for subsea

Autonomous Trash Collector Deployed on the River Scheldt

en Bosbeheer).The mobile installation consists of a smart detection system, a workboat that can navigate autonomously and a charging point. Floating waste is detected using artificial intelligence (AI) by smart cameras that are installed on the old Temse bridge. An autonomously navigating workboat, the Marine Litter Hunter, intercepts waste and pushes it to a collection pontoon. The waste is collected in the collection pontoon, where a crane equipped with a grab transfers the waste into a container.The fixed crane is operated remotely by an operator using virtual reality and 3D vision technology. When

SeaRaptor AUV Completes Sea Acceptance Test

Teledyne Gavia, a company of Teledyne Marine, announced it has completed the sale and recent sea acceptance testing of the SeaRaptor, 6,000m rated autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). The client was not disclosed.The SeaRaptor AUV incorporates a broad range of Teledyne content including acoustic modems, ascent and descent weight releases, a black box pinger locator, sub-bottom profiler (Teledyne Benthos), multi-beam echosounders, obstacle avoidance multi-beam sonar (Teledyne RESON), Doppler Velocity Log (DVL), Current, Temperature, and Depth sensor (CTD) (Teledyne RD Instruments), and onboard processing

Subsea Tech's 'March of Miniaturization'

all subsea operations have to be done by subsea vehicles. Another start-up, Birdview, is designing an aerial drone that can drop sensors into the water to gather data – or whatever you might want a subsea sensor to do. The Oslo-based company has already been working with Norway’s Institute of Marine Research (IMR) in Bergen to provide a remote sensor for offshore fisheries – i.e. a drone that is launched from a fishing vessel and dips a sonar into the water to see if there are shoals of fish, which can then inform the vessel where it should go.Mohibb Malik, a Project engineer at Birdview

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Arctic Rays, LLC has released Mako for use on multiple platforms, including ROVs, HOVs, ASVs, landers and fixed platforms.  Mako has an on-board real-time clock with scheduler, which can be programmed in advance and allowed to run independently off of its internal battery or external power.  The internal scheduler can also be used to synchronize and control any of Arctic Rays’ Dragonfish series lights.  Scheduling, adjustments to camera settings, and downloading of video can be done via the standard MCBH connector, or via Wi-Fi. Recharging the battery is also accomplished through