Page 647 - The ROV Manual - A User Guide for Remotely Operated Vehicles 2nd edition

648 CHAPTER 23 The Future of ROV Technology
FIGURE 23.4
Nereus vehicle.
(Courtesy Advanced Imaging & Visualization Labr, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).)
23.3 Autonomous ROVs
AUVs were once confined to navy laboratories or academic institutions. Today, the technology has transitioned to industry where hundreds of vehicles are operating offshore. Companies like Bluefin Robotics (with their Bluefin line of AUVs) and Kongsberg Maritime (with their line of Hugin vehi- cles) have come to dominate the offshore survey market. Kongsberg also made a strategic play when Hydroid LLC, with their REMUS line of vehicles, became a wholly owned subsidiary in 2007. Such companies are keeping their military and commercial users well supplied with highly reliable systems.
23.3.1 Structurally compliant vehicles
A step toward autonomy, without using a free-swimming vehicle, is the structurally compliant vehi- cle. One such vehicle currently under development is the SeaTrepid Riser Crawling vehicle (Figure 23.5). With high-risk/value portions of oilfield infrastructure (e.g., risers and moorings), a structurally compliant vehicle may be semipermanently mounted to the structure for assuring asset integrity. The vehicle will regularly “crawl” the structure while using a suite of sensors for charac- terizing the structure.