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as hundreds of hours of use in a number pre-programmed waypoints. The video frastructure that cannot be safely or effec- of civilian missions ranging from com- and sonar imaging from the MANTAS tively inspected by humans. For example, mercial canal and dam hydrography, to or Devil Ray can be sent directly to op- a MANTAS T12 USV was used to con- commercial power plant inspections, to erators in real-time. duct inspections of the Keokuk dam and port and harbor security. MARTAC has developed a concept energy center, the Bagnell energy center,

The MANTAS T12 (12-foot) USV of operations (CONOPS) for how Devil the Elkhart hydro dam, the Central Arizo- has been equipped and tested with a Ray would be used to help ensure secu- na Project canal and other infrastructure.

wide variety of surface and below-sur- rity of these energy resources. For ex- The enormous investment that energy face sensors. Additionally, MARTAC ample, an operator might have a Devil companies have made – and will con- has ? elded T38 (38-foot) “Devil Ray” Ray on patrol on a predictable pattern tinue to make – in offshore oil and gas

USV, capable of carrying even more inspecting the asset above and below rigs and offshore wind farms is one that sensors. This off-the-shelf technology water. If the USV discovers an anomaly these businesses must protect against can be used today to effect faster and and links the video back in real-time, the failure, sabotage, or other hazards. Cur- more complete inspections of offshore operator will be alerted and can com- rent means of inspecting these rigs are oil/gas platforms along with their sur- mand the Devil Ray to linger in a par- slow, costly and hazardous. Employing rounding bottom mounted pipelines, as ticular area for more granular analysis commercial-off-the-shelf USVs like the well as offshore wind farms, while dra- using its integrated radar, camera and Devil Ray can enhance the ability to de- matically decreasing the need for human sonar sensor suite. If this investigation liver energy to the world. divers. Three primary missions where uncovers an area of concern, then a div- those responsible for oil rigs, pipelines, er can be deployed to make a repair. or offshore wind farms would utilize The same USV technology that is

The opinions expressed in this article this USV concept include: poised to assist the oil and gas and off- are solely those of the author. Reference to any speci? c commercial companies, • For underwater imaging, the Dev- shore wind farm industries is already be- products, process, or service does not il Ray can be equipped with Norbit ing used to inspect critical infrastructure imply its endorsement by the Department iWBMS STX multi-beam sonar, a for- such harbors, ports, inland waterways, of Defense or Department of the Navy.

ward-looking or side-scan sonar, or any dams, levees, canals, bridges and other in- of many other commercial-off-the-shelf underwater sensors.

• For surface investigation the Devil

Ray, which is already equipped with a

Furuno DRS4D-NXT Doppler Radar and AIS, could also carry a SeaFLIR 280-HDEP Multi-Spectral Surveillance

System, or alternately, the simpler FLIR

M400, M500 or M364C-LR EO/Ther- mal cameras.

• Since one of the early indicators of material failure of oil rig components in- volves oil and other material from the rig seeping into the surrounding water, the

Devil Ray can be equipped with water- monitoring sensors to include Acoustic

Doppler Current Pro? lers (ADCP), Cur- rent-Temperature Depth (CTD) sensors, ? ourometers and others to detect chang- es in the water quality.

Depending on the mission, opera- tors can control the Devil Ray remotely and direct its mission manually, or use the USV in an autonomous or semi-au- tonomous mode to search along a pre- determined course through the use of www.marinelink.com 25

MR #5 (18-33).indd 25 5/3/2023 2:37:35 PM