Page 31: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (May/Jun 2024)

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"Geotechnical drilling and sampling will evolve towards fully autonomous operations on the seafloor." – Andrew Galbraith,

Managing Director of Ocean Infinity he deeper you go, the quieter the ocean be- OBN-to-OBN communication is used for navigation comes. It’s something that Kyrre Tjøm is ex- and, as a swarm, to produce relatively small but high res- ploiting in his back-to-basics approach to olution seismic datasets. In the future, it will enable the ocean bottom nodes (OBNs). Like his com- swarm to report back to the launching vessel even if the

T petitors, the CEO and Founder of iDROP, is vessel has moved beyond the reach of an individual OBN.

developing autonomous OBNs that can deploy themselves The OBNs are designed to glide to the seafoor without on to the seabed without ROV support. the need for ROV help or DP-positioning mother vessels. As

The current method for laying the nodes, which catch part of their patented autonomy, the OBN’s will use fight refected waves during seismic surveys, involves specialist data to create a current profle as they traverse the water col- vessels and specialist crews. It only takes one member of umn at a predefned heading, constantly adjusting angle of the team to fall sick to disrupt an entire survey schedule, attack to create the required lift to navigate autonomously says Tjøm. That’s how in-demand the expertise is. into position while the deployment vessel has moved on.

He has caught the attention of Woodside, ExxonMobil Where other autonomous OBNs use 50% of their bat- and others. Unlike his competitors, Tjøm is avoiding high- tery power for launch and retrieval operations, iDROP’s tech complexity above and below the surface. One way he gravity-based OBNs use around 5%. They use their rud- is doing this is to exploit the quiet ocean foor to enable his ders and landing gear to slow their descent prior to landing

Oceanid OBNs to communicate with others in the swarm and correct their vertical inclination before mechanically and with the ship, using acoustics. This is facilitated by hav- deploying their payload of sensors into the seafoor. As ing upright OBNs that aren’t obstructed by seafoor topology. there’s no need for ROVs or umbilicals, if one OBN fails

MAy/june 2024 OFFSHORE ENGINEER 31