Page 659 - The ROV Manual - A User Guide for Remotely Operated Vehicles 2nd edition

660 CHAPTER 23 The Future of ROV Technology
the vehicle’s onboard pilot is running the operation. Both must be trained to do their job
efficiently, correctly, and without damage to either the vehicle or subsea structure. • The “Inter-Sea-Net”: for future applications as discussed below.
It is time for one final prophecy. It was not that long ago that the telephone was the primary means of communication, and that was done by dropping coins in a pay phone, when people actu- ally talked to each other. Then came the Internet, e-mail, Facebook, etc., and with the addition of cell/smart phones, iPads, etc., verbal communication was substantially curtailed (or essentially eliminated). Any information one needs can be found with the touch of an app on a digital device. Technology users can roam the world because the infrastructure is in place to allow him/her to communicate with anyone at any time from anywhere. This did not happen overnight.
So, where is this leading? When we take into consideration the extent of future offshore devel- opments and the requirement to operate, monitor, and repair all the equipment, a requirement begins to appear—that requirement is the need for an “Inter-Sea-Net.” Again, it will not happen overnight. The oil companies and commercial ROV developers did not develop their integrated approach to subsea equipment and intervention overnight either, but they did develop it.
What better way to solve future needs than to develop an integrated offshore infrastructure? One where all equipment is connected in a fashion that allows hybrid vehicles to conduct IRM operations, where advanced sensors can be installed, monitored, and replaced to sense the environ- ment and provide a warning when something bad is about to (or has) happened. Higher level messaging-type commands are being developed on the military side, such as Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems (JAUS), for directing individual robotic assets with goal-oriented tasking (without direct human-in-the-loop control). Or perhaps an infrastructure where AUVs can navigate, survey, recharge, and provide their feedback in real time to the operator who is on land in a warm, comfortable control room. An environment where the operator touches an app to bring up the status of all equipment he/she is responsible for.
Oceaneering and C-Innovations are taking a step in that direction with their central command centers, or war rooms, where the health and safety of their systems can be remotely monitored. This is a step in the right direction, but the path to a fully integrated oil patch is a very long road indeed.
There is a lot of communication capability already in place; however, future installations need a lot more. The future oilfield must provide for the installation of all the necessary nodes and inter- faces, whether RF links on an offshore structure or acoustic beacons/modems throughout the oil- field, to allow for the future integration of a robotic infrastructure. A robotic world where robots exist that help service the other robots so they do not need to be recovered as often. Farfetched? Not really. The world of robotics is moving a lot faster than the semiviscous movement of offshore technology. If desired, and planned for, future offshore oilfields will become a fully robotic domain.
This could also include the MSVs. If a hybrid AUV/ROV can work underwater, then an MSV dedicated to the launch, recovery, and operation of an ROV, or AUV, can be developed that is operated remotely from a shore station. A much smaller, robotic MSV, without the cost of a crew might be a very economical development. If a surgeon can use robotic arms to perform an opera- tion from a remote location, then an ROV operator could certainly run a robotic MSV (along with all of its subsystems—including the ROV!) from afar.