Page 21: of Marine Technology Magazine (May 2014)
AUV Operations
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jobs in remote locations. If they had to do an extended deployment 1000 miles off of Australia, they wanted to know everything that they would need. We worked with them to identify the equip- ment that they had, and what it could be augmented with and when it was mobi- lized we got them what they needed. As we noted at the outset, the media spotlight has indeed been bright on BlueÞ n. What are the pro?s? The recent media coverage has given us the opportunity to offer the public a better understanding of what the subsea robotics industry can do in the ocean. The ocean is not that well explored, particularly because it is such a harsh environment to work in. There have been some great points made about the limitation of working at immense depths, communications and operational issues when deployed far from land and the limitations of the sensor technology. And have there been any drawbacks? While shining a light on our industry is great, we have to remember that there are 239 people missing. It is important to respect this is a tragedy, and we are cautious of being appropri-ate to the situation. People are waiting for answers so we feel an obligation to explain to them what our equipment can and can?t do. We don?t want to oversell our technology and beat our chests un-necessarily. We?re just proud and hon- ored to be asked to help, and if our tech- nology can help to nd answers, that is great. So (at press time) the vehicle has conducted multiple mis-sions 1,000 miles from land in uncharted seas. What has been the feedback from Phoe- nix? The Phoenix folks are experts in operating equipment subsea. They completed all of our training courses and we are con dent in their ability to handle the Blue n for the search effort. Since they were going to be in an un- known environment with limited band- width availability to the ship, we sent one of our marine operation engineers to augment the team. Blue n vehicles have a lot of capability and their performance can be optimized for performance given the environment. It was more ef cient for us to send someone to work with their team onsite instead of providing support from land in a different time zone.It?s not uncommon for us to work with our customers, reviewing data back from a dive and providing feedback to adjust Evanscaps are hermetically-sealed tantalum capacitors known for reliable energy in adverse conditions. They deliver sea level and G H H S Z D W H U S R Z H U I R U F R P P X Q L F D W L R Q V F R Q W U R O V S R Z H U À O W U D W L R Q data storage, pulse power, navigation and more. Compact and corrosion-resistant, energy-dense Evanscaps are V S H F L À H G I U R P R X W H U V S D F H W R W K H G H S W K V R I W K H R F H D Q 7 H V W H G W R 10,000 psi for operation under pressure, Evanscaps save space and provide security ? in AUVs, ROVs and at the surface. For technical specs and pricing, check www.evanscap.com/deepwater_products.html The Evans Capacitor Company % R \ G $ Y H ? ( D V W 3 U R Y L G H Q F H 5 , 8 6 $ ? ) D [ AT SEA, RELIABILITY IS EVERYTHING.Marine Technology Reporter 21www.seadiscovery.com MTR #4 (18-33).indd 21MTR #4 (18-33).indd 215/12/2014 10:46:58 AM5/12/2014 10:46:58 AM
