Page 61: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Jan/Feb 2013)

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Underwater Vehicles

Surveying the feld in the search for full autonomy

The lack of breakthroughs autonomous inspection of subsea

The trend toward in wireless underwater infrastructure for an oil and gas deeper, more remote communication and battery major, bringing AUV inspections

T capacity is prolonging the wait for into a new reality,’ says Lou offshore oilfelds is a fully autonomous underwater Dennis, Lockheed Martin business driving step-by-step vehicle (AUV), one that will not development manager. automation of subsea need a $100,000/day vessel and Dan McLeod, Lockheed Martin’s crew, a heavy tether for power and Marlin program manager, says operations while the control or hours to complete a task the Marlin system represents an oil industry awaits that might take minutes onshore. advance in autonomous technology, its science-fction But some relief is coming from though it still must surface to workarounds to overcome AUV download its high-res data, recharge dream machine limitations and incremental and receive new instructions.

– an unmanned, improvements in 30-year-old ROV ‘It actually interacts with sensor untethered robot that technology. data as it’s performing its mission,’ Hybrid vehicles are in the works McLeod says. ‘What that allows can tend seafoor that piggyback AUV capability onto is adaptive path planning, so it’s wellheads and install proven ROV technology. Subsea optimized to travel around the equipment without docking stations, hard-wired to path that provides the best sensor the surface, are being developed to coverage for the particular mission.’ human intervention. allow AUVs to recharge and deliver

Creative approaches data without resurfacing, reducing Autonomous inspection launch and recovery time. Software Massachusetts-based Bluefn were on display at the and sensor improvements could Robotics, a Battelle subsidiary,

Subsea Survey IRM boost the speed and precision of has specialized in defense, 2012 conference in work done by existing ROVs while environmental sensing, salvage and keeping a human operator in the national security uses of underwater

Galveston, Texas, control loop. vehicle technology. Now it is in November, and Lockheed Martin exhibited its offering the technology to the

Bruce Nichols was programmable AUV, Marlin, which offshore oil industry.

can fy free while staying on what Bluefn subs already there for .

OE amounts to a software leash. Last autonomously inspect the summer, the 10ft-long, tear-drop undersides of ships calling at ports shaped, 2098lb submarine followed and search for mines in warzone pre-set paths to survey 11 platforms shipping lanes. The capabilities and three other sites in the Gulf involved are not so different from of Mexico for Chevron ( surveying the legs of an offshore see panel overleaf ). The data gathered was platform or inspecting pipelines.

turned into 3D models that the Bluefn, in September 2011, supermajor can use in planning. demonstrated a workaround ‘It was the frst commercial, for limits on submarine battery oedigital.com January 2013 | OE 63 oe_AUVs3.indd 63 03/01/2013 13:46