Page 33: of Marine Technology Magazine (January 2020)

Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) system. the ROV making it hard to track. But,

BP speaks of

This set-up was trialled in Cawsand these are learnings, he adds.

Bay, Plymouth, early in 2019. There “At this stage, we just wanted to see it a goal to have was also nothing to actually inspect in work, the next stage collaborative auton-

Cawsand Bay. So, L3Harris UK recruit- omy between vehicle and the subsurface 100% of its subsea ed Portuguese visualisation and simula- vehicle,” he says. “So, the next step is to tion ? rm Aybssal Systems to build a syn- look at increasing automation and ma- inspection activities thetic environment so there were things chine learning to generate paths to get to “look at” on the seabed. The vessel back into its enclosure, way points, etc.” with unmanned pilots were able to oversee what was go- The ability to work in sea states above ing on and BP staff from Sunbury, UK, three will also be needed, as well as a systems by 2025, or Houston, US, were also able to log-in larger ROV, with a Tiger, also from Saab and see what was happening. Ten dives Seaeye, being eyed for the next trials, as (and) has been were done in a fairy friendly sea-state part of Phase 2 of the project, scheduled 3 (slight). The dives included testing for this year (2020), which is hoped will supporting vertical inspection, getting to a site and include a real inspection scope deliver- hovering, ? ying the ROV by hand (from ing data. L3Harris UK will also be look-

L3Harris UK on shore), putting the ASV on a heading ing to increase the ROV tether length to project called hold and ? ying the ROV underneath, 275m, in order to operate in 150m wa- and testing a docking algorithm. ter depth, which would cover 70-75%

ARISE.

“One of the major challenges was the of the North Sea. Future systems will winch,” says Cowles. “An early learning also incorporate line-cutting, in case the was that if you don’t synchronize these, ROV tether gets caught and potentially solution to deploy underwater robotics it does wrong quickly.” Also, there will becomes an anchor. from an unmanned surface platform. not always be 10mb bandwidth off- “The goal is a more robust launch and James Ives, the ? rm’s CEO, says, “Mul- shore, says Cowles, and there can be recovery system. We need to work in tiple clients have expressed an interest times when the vessel is straight above higher sea states to get the work window in extending the solution to deeper wa- we need in North Sea and elsewhere ter to cover more of their assets. This around the world. And we need more inevitably means positioning sensors autonomy,” says Cowles. The future lower in the water column. XOCEAN is could see an 18-24m vessel with a light working on this next generation of tech- work class ROV or larger AUVs. nology to achieve this.

The potential is there, says Cowles, “The system is based around the inte- citing an ability to have 20-day endur- gration of a subsea inspection vehicle ance with a USV-ROV combination. with a larger XO-900 (9m) USV. The “You can leave Aberdeen or Peterhead, inspection vehicle will be ? tted with an transit, do 10 days work and still have array of sensors including cameras and a signi? cant reserve,” he says. “Even if laser scanners allowing detailed inspec- the vessel needs a while to transit, that tion of subsea assets. The system is cur- offers scope.” Questions remaining in- rently in development and XOCEAN clude who would pilot the ROV – the plan to have a system in operation in same person as the USV pilot, or not? 2021.”

Marine regulations also remain a ques- Others have been working on simi- tion but L3Harris UK is working with lar capabilities. Last year [2019], ECA the Maritime Autonomy Sustainabil- GROUP, which mostly provides USVs ity Regulatory Working Group (MASR- with mine counter measures capabili-

WG). Cowles says that it appears that ties (to detect then destroy mine-like current collision regulations (Colregs) objects) demonstrated the capability of are probably ? t for purpose for the cur- performing a subsea inspection using rent size ASVs. As vessels get bigger, its USV (Unmanned Surface Vehicle) however, we will need changes, he says. INSPECTOR deploying a H300V type

Others see the potential too. XOCEAN, ROV within a Research and Develop- an Irish company, based in County ment program led by Total and Technip-

Louth, Ireland, is also working on a FMC. www.marinetechnologynews.com

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