Where have we been – ROVs
ROVs now and in the future
There are many large steel structures in the North Sea and the waters of the US Gulf, many of which are getting on in years. As a means of maintaining the cost–effectiveness of these assets, their operators are looking for new deposits to exploiting by tying them back to these platforms.
This
requires that the integrity of the structures in terms of both
corrosion and fatigue is assessed and guaranteed, probably beyond
the original design life, and this will require extensive
inspection. The detailed inspection of many hundreds of structural
nodes, most of which will require cleaning first, is a massive task.
It is only really cost effective if it can be automated, and this is
likely to be a major application of ROVs in future. The vehicle
technology will not have to improve greatly since they will probably
continue to be launched near the site with an umbilical for power,
but automation of the applications will continue to advance. Systems
are already in the development stage whereby the vehicle will fly to
a general location, identify the node it seeks, lock on, learn the
geometry, clean and inspect. This will require sophisticated robotic
arms, measuring systems employing sonar or laser technology, and
solid geometry modelling packages. The ROVs will also be
task–programmed: in other words, there will not be a pilot at the
controls continuously; the ROV will perform the work with only
supervisory control.