Page 50: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Jul/Aug 2024)

49 51

SUBSEA ROBOTICS UUVs, AUVs, ROVs

SMD porating a new eight-megapixel camera in the nosecone. foor mapping.

The most signifcant upgrade, however, is the addition The companies will work together to create a solution in of the module that enables subsea USBL aiding of the ve- which a multi-sensor underwater drone, capable of diving hicle INS positioning. This means the vehicle does not to 3,000 meters, will coordinate multiple AUVs to increase need to surface periodically to update the internal position the surface of the exploration area, with the deployment of and account for INS/DVL drift, creating effciencies by al- operational demonstrator expected in 2026.

lowing the vehicle to remain subsea and on task for the full As part of this project, for which the companies entered 12-hour mission endurance as well as allowing use of the into strategic partnership in July 2024, Exail will improve full 1000 m depth rating. the capabilities of its deepwater AUV A18-D to serve as

Previously, the requirement for the vehicle to return to the leading AUV to guide the swarm and enable naviga- the surface to update real-world position using Global Po- tion down to 3,000 meters. sitioning System (GPS), meant that the deepest that the RTsys will extend the capabilities of its newly developed

AUV had worked was 100 m, as anything deeper was too AUV COMET-3000 to dive up to 3,000 meters. Multiple ineffcient with the time spent diving and surfacing to up- units will be provided to act as followers, along with the date the position in deeper waters. development of an innovative launch and recovery system for the AUV swarm.

ABYSSA will focus on developing exploration strategies

EXAIL, RTSYS AND ABYSSAL TEAM

In a signifcant development for seafoor mapping, for deep-water swarms of AUVS, and will also process the

Exail has joined forces with RTsys and Abyssal to advance magnetic data collected to map the magnetic anomalies the capabilities of AUVs in complex subsea operations as on the seabed. At the same time, the project will carry out part of the French government-backed project CARMA, a preliminary study on extending exploration capacity to that aims to develop swarms of AUVs for effcient ocean 6,000 meters depth.

50 OFFSHORE ENGINEER OEDIGITAL.COM