Page 8: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Jan/Feb 2019)

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LEADING OFF Visualization Technology

IMAGING THE FUTURE

BY ELAINE MASLIN nce upon a time, visual inspection of subsea infra- On the one hand, sensor platforms are evolving. Both ROVs structure meant divers taking still cameras down and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) are becoming to the sea? oor, hoping that the camera casing faster to use; BP has a target to have 100% of subsea inspec-

Owouldn’t ? ood, or that the ? lm wouldn’t be over tion performed via marine autonomous systems (MAS) by exposed or destroyed during development. Even using the 2025, Peter Collinson, senior subsea and environmental spe- ? rst remotely operated vehicles (ROV) with a live video feed, cialist at BP at the oil major, told the seminar. it was dif? cult to catch a long enough sight of an inspection They’re also becoming more autonomous, supported by on- target, due to limited control and positioning functionality if shore operations centers. Equinor has already trialed piloting there was any level of current. ROV operations from onshore centers (via Oceaneering and

It’s safe to say, the industry has come a long way since and IKM) and this year it’s set to trial Eelume’s snake-like subsea the imaging possibilities are expanding by the day. In fact, the robot in a subsea garage at the Åsgard ? eld offshore Norway, problem is now starting to become how to process the “tsu- on a tether. By 2020, it hopes to go tetherless, Richard Mills, nami” of data that’s being gathered. [See sidebar page 10] director of sales, Kongsberg Maritime Robotics, told the semi-

These issues were top of the agenda at a joint seminar nar. The next step could be use in combination with unmanned held by The Hydrographic Society in Scotland (THSiS), the surface vessels.

International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) and Meanwhile, imaging technologies, from laser to photo- the Society of Underwater Technology (SUT) in Aberdeen grammetry, are helping these platforms to gather more data, in October. faster and, potentially, also help them navigate.

INSET Comex’s

ORUS3D system integrated onto an

ROV for operations in the North Sea in 2018.

Subsea survey operations using an

ORUS3D system.

Source: Comex Innovation 8 OFFSHORE ENGINEER OEDIGITAL.COM 1-17 OE 2019.indd 8 1-17 OE 2019.indd 8 1/21/2019 3:58:29 PM1/21/2019 3:58:29 PM