Robot Reviews

Another busy week in the field of underwater robots. 

September 15 - Saab Seaeye recently launched two Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) at Offshore Europe 2009. 

The two robots Saab Seaeye launched at Offshore Europe were the Cougar-XTi ROV and the Panther-XT Plus ROV. The Cougar-XTi is touted as the fastest swimming work ROV in the planet. The Cougar-XTi, on the other hand, is capable of reaching depths up to 3 km and is equipped with an intelligent man/machine interface.

The Cougar has a new autopilot system capable of carrying out tighter heading and depth parameters in order for the ROV to be positioned more accurately. Among Panther's best features is its power to weight ratio which more than doubles that of its competitors.

Saab Seaeye is an England-based company specializing in ROVs for the oil and gas industry, defense forces, marine science, and hydro engineering. Since rolling out their first ROV, the eyeball class Seaeye 600, they never looked back. Now, Saab Seaeye has a wide selection of ROV and ROV-related products such as TMSs (Tether Management Systems), control cabins, thrusters, and pan & tilt units. 

Offshore Europe is a bi-annual conference and exhibition for the oil and gas industry, and one of the largest of its kind.

September 16 - Hallin Marine, a subsea solutions provider, has won a 5 year contract allowing it to provide ROV drilling support in the Caspian Sea. 

The contract was awarded by Dalgidj Private Company. In the first two years, Hallin Marine will provide two ROVS along with trained personnel. At the end of two years, the ROVs will be bought by Dalgidj while Hallin will continue supplying technical and project support until the 5-year contract expires. 

A few days before this development, Hallin Marine also grabbed a deal with Petramina Hulu Energi ONWJ for subsea Inspection Repair and Maintenance operations in the Java Sea in Indonesia. The deal would enable Hallin Marine to provide the following services: project management, engineering, air and saturation diving, vessel operations, and ROV operations.

September 16 - Due to the increasing demand for ROVs, Ageotec decided to upgrade their facilities at their Como plant in Italy.

Ageotec is a 5-year old company specializing in marine environment, underwater and oceanographic technologies. They provide sales, rental, and services. The company has 4 ROVs in their product line: the Class I - SIRIO, Class I - Perseo, Class I - Perseo GT, and Class II - Pegaso (shown in the image). The Ageotec Como plant houses a warehouse, R&D facility, electronic laboratory, production and mechanical laboratory, and a test area. 

September 17 - Grup Servicii Petroliere (GSP) of Constanta, Romania, is set to beef up its fleet with the anticipated arrival of their new DP 2 ROV/subsea vessel. 

The vessel, named GSP Prince, was built in Norway's Baatbygg  Shipyard. Aside from ROV operations, GSP Prince is also suitable for SAT Diving, sub-sea installation works, geo-technical surveys, light construction works, and crane operations. It is also designed to operate even under extreme weather conditions. 

The ship can also serve as a mother vessel for AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles) and UUVs (Unmanned Undersea Vehicles a.k.a. Unmanned Underwater Vehicles). 

September 17 - SMD, a world leader in subsea engineering based in the UK, recently developed an ultra compact Work Class ROV. 

The ROV, dubbed ATOM, is powered by a 100 hp Curvatech hydraulic power pack. Hydraulic power is supplied to its propulsion and tooling circuits. This is entirely different from typical electric ROVs that use separate propulsion and tooling systems. That means, it's a relatively smaller machine that packs a wallop. 

The ATOM can deliver a horizontal thrust of up to 500 kilogram-forces. That's over 50% of what an electric ROV of the same size can provide. This larger thrust will enable the ATOM to operate better in high current environments. Aside from the size, SMD is happy to announce that another component is greatly reduced as well - the price.

In case you're not familiar with them yet, ROVs are tethered underwater robots. That is, they're attached to a control system via a set of cables. The control is usually on board a vessel floating on the ocean's surface. Information gathered by the ROVs through built-in cameras or other sensors are streamed live to the human controller above. Some ROVs are also outfitted with robot arms.

We've got lots of stories about ROVs and their underwater robot cousins here at Robot Reviews.

Check out these links if you're interested to know more about them:

Underwater Robot Finds Ship Sank By Mafia

Baffled Scientists Find Waldo Where They Left It

Robots Tapped In Search For Explorer's Plane Missing Since 1928

Deep Sea Rover Links Up With MARS

Tagging the Ocean's Bottom with Robots