Equinor Awards Modus 'World's First' Resident Subsea Drone Contract
Modus, a company specializing in hovering autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), has won a contract with Equinor for the provision of underwater intervention drone missions at their Johan Sverdrup field.The contract, which will run from 2023 to mid-2024, is for underwater intervention drone operations at the offshore field located in the Norwegian part of the North Sea, and will see one of Modus’ Saab Sabertooth HAUVs resident in field "for a significant period. "According to Modus, this is the world’s first resident subsea drone contract by Equinor Energy.The offshore operations
Back to the Future: Blended Wing Gliders Could Redefine Undersea Warfare
,along with its cousins the Kongsberg SeaGlider, originally developed by the University of Washington, and Spray Glider, jointly developed by Woods Hole and Scripps Institute of Oceanography, have been at the forefront of the marine robotics revolution. Gliders are unique among autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Rather than use thrusters or propellers for propulsion, they rely on changes in buoyancy, in combination with wings and stabilizers, to "fly" through the water column in an up-and-down, sawtooth fashion, periodically surfacing to communicate with human operators ("pilots"
Van Oord Books Eidesvik Offshore Vessel for Offshore Wind Trenching Support
new client.” Arnoud Kuis, Managing Director of Offshore Wind at Van Oord said: “The vessel will be deployed at various Van Oord projects, as a trenching support vessel, and will be the main platform for the Van Oord trencher Dig-It.”The Dig-It is Tracked Remotely Operated Vehicle (TROV), with its tracks as its primary method of propulsion. It is a remote-controlled trench jetting and cutting system as well as a cable burial system. Its first project was the cable burial work at the Borkum Riffgrund 2 offshore wind farm in Germany in 2018.Dig-it on deck - Credit: Van
Cellula Robotics to Build AUV to Measure Ships' Signatures
Canada-based subsea robotics systems firm Cellula Robotics has secured a contract through Innovative Solutions Canada's Testing Stream to build and test of hovering Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) for use in underwater measurements of a ship's acoustic and magnetic signature.The innovation, known as Imotus-S, builds on Cellula's existing commercial Imotus AUV and is configured with an Ocean Sonics hydrophone and an Ocean Floor Geophysics self-compensating magnetometer. Imotus-S will test the ability to be deployed from a marine vessel to provide magnetic and acoustic signature
Kongsberg Reels In $44M in Hugin AUV Orders in Q2
Norway-based Kongsberg Maritime’s Sensor and Robotics division said Wednesday it had secured over NOK 450M (~$44 million) in contracts for HUGIN autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) in the second quarter of 2022. "The order income consists of a healthy mix of recurring business with existing customers and new customers that will utilize the HUGIN platform in their operations," Kongsberg said, without going into details on who the clients were exactly."The use of AUVs is a vital piece in the technology puzzle that must be solved to enable sustainable oceans. The vehicles can
TSC Subsea Deploys 'Industry's First' Acoustic Deepwater Hydrate Detection Solution
Norway-based subsea inspection solutions provider TSC Subsea said Thursday it had launched an industry first in acoustic deepwater hydrate detection solution, first deployed at a project offshore Angola.According to the company, the solutions. called the ART vPush, provides efficient, cost-effective, hydrate detection at a level that has not been previously available.The tool uses TSC Subsea’s ART technology on a moving platform to rapidly assess pipeline contents over complete pipe runs. Data is collected in real-time and processed with several algorithms to monitor signals from the far side of
Saipem's FlatFish Drone to be Deployed for Ultra-deepwater Inspection at Shell and Petrobras Fields in Brazil
Italian oilfield services and technology company Saipem will provide its FlatFish subsea drone for Shell's and Petrobras' ultra-deepwater projects in Brazil.Under the contract, Shell and Petrobras will use Saipem's FlatFish subsea drone in two pilot projects encompassing the inspection campaigns of two ultra-deepwater fields offshore Brazil.These two projects with Shell and Petrobras are pilots and fall within the framework of the research and development program of ANP, the Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels. The target is to qualify the drone to execute
EDF, ORCA Hub in 'First' Autonomous ROV Wind Farm Foundation Inspection
EDF Renewables has deployed a customized remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to carry out what is believed to be the first autonomous wind farm foundation inspection at its Blyth offshore wind farm in the UK.The ROV was modified to include cutting-edge robotic technologies for autonomous inspection capabilities and carried out visual inspections of the gravity-based foundations of three wind offshore turbines over the course of four days. The ROV was equipped and operated by researchers from the ORCA Hub, a strategic project within the National Robotarium.The inspections were carried out as part of
SWiG's Wireless Acoustic Standard to Improve Comms Between Offshore Vessels & Subsea Vehicles
Subsea Wireless Group (SWiG) has launched a new wireless acoustic standard to improve communication between offshore vessels and the vehicles used in underwater inspection, maintenance, and repair.SWiG, an oil and gas industry network with members from all parts of the supply chain, operators, systems integrators, equipment, vehicle, and sensor manufacturers, addresses problems related to the increasing diversity of communication systems used by Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs).According to the organization, its new standard, SWiGacoustic, provides a simple acoustic protocol that satisfies
'Intelligent Muscle' - Saab Seaeye to Showcase 'Pioneering' Electric Manipulator at OTC
, the company said.Saab Seaeye also said that visitors to the exhibition stand would be able to hear more about other innovations "that are changing the face of underwater enterprises."eWROV - Credit: Saab SeaeyeOne of these is Saab Seaeye’s new environmentally-friendly electric work vehicle, called eWROV, which matches the power of a 250 hp hydraulic work class system, but is easier to operate, more precise, acoustically quieter, more reliable, needs less maintenance, and, according to the company, has a much lower lifetime cost."Already the world leader in electric underwater
Sustainable Seabed Mining: Impossible Mining Partners Up with Boskalis
Impossible Mining, a company developing sustainable seabed mining technology, has said it has partnered up with the Dutch marine services company Boskalis to explore the integration of its robotics with vessel operations for selective harvesting of nodules in the Cook Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean.In November 2021, Impossible Mining, which describes itself as a public benefits corporation based in Silicon Valley, said it was developing the technology to mine the seabed without causing serious harm. It said at the time it had secured funding to develop prototypes of an autonomous
Lander Lab: Technologies, Strategies and Use of Ocean Landers
Moon landers held my attention in the 1960’s as a teenager. Unmanned robotic vehicles like Surveyor, descend out of a dark sky onto an alien world, and took the first look around.The deep and dark ocean seemed as distant and alien. SEALAB II, bathyscaphe Trieste, and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in my hometown of San Diego had immense gravitational pull on my curiosity.Ocean Landers, unmanned robotic vehicles, like Scripps Professor John Issacs’ Monster Camera, descend out of a dark sea onto an alien world, and took the first look around. Our first glimpse of
Subsea Vehicles: A Journey to the Under – and Outer – Worlds
;s work will help NASA explore oceans on other worlds in our solar system.Central to the two missions is the deployment of underwater technology, low power miniaturized sensors and terrain-based navigation. For WHOI’s part, it’s developing a low-cost, full ocean depth autonomous underwater vehicle platform (AUV), Orpheus, and a miniaturized chemical sensing, while JPL is giving Orpheus the ability to navigate, using image-based terrain relative navigation (TRN) – technology developed for use by the Mars rover and Ingenuity, its robot helicopter colleague. It may sound like science fiction
Hydromea's Wireless ROV Tested at TotalEnergies’ FPSO Ballast Water Tank
, in a full ballast water tank on one of TotalEnergies’ North Sea FPSOs.EXRAY was deployed to collect visual inspection data, validating system performance including wireless navigation and wireless communication, Hydromea said.According to Hydromea, the pilot was able to command and control the vehicle and receive real-time 1080p video feedback, using proprietary wireless optical communication technology that replaces a cabled connection. Without a tether attached, the risk of entanglement in complex confined spaces is greatly reduced, Hydromea said.The project is funded by the Net Zero Technology
August 2022
