TITLE: Development of an Unmanned Hybrid Submarine Vehicle Applied to Environmental Missions and the Offshore Exploration Industry
Description: An unmanned submarine vehicle is currently under development, capable of operating at low depths in either remotely operated or autonomous mode, depending on the mission requirements. The autonomous mode is performed by a cruising AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) executing pre-programmed manoeuvres relevant to the mission. In remotely operated mode, the vehicle retains the battery bank used in autonomous mode and adds a fiber optic umbilical cable to exchange commands and data between the vehicle and the surface operator at a high communication rate.
Unlike currently proposed hybrid vehicles, the hydrodynamic design of the vehicle, its manoeuvring system, and the umbilical release system are aimed at supporting missions that, in remotely operated mode, require speeds compatible with those of low-cost cruising AUVs, without a significant decrease in energy autonomy due to umbilical drag. Thus, it is possible to carry out rapid missions such as search, tracking, and inspection of submerged installations, e.g., pipelines, submarine cables, hulls and submerged structures of FPSOs and platforms, as well as environmental reconnaissance or preliminary data collection directed by a surface operator — providing higher performance and reduced costs.
TITLE: Diverless Teleoperated Robotic System for Inspection, Cleaning, Maintenance, and Intervention on Mooring Lines
Description: The main objective of this project is the development of a technology and its associated infrastructure for measuring the chain links of mooring lines on floating production units. The development of the robotic system is planned, building upon solutions already proposed by the team. The prototype of the robotic system to be developed will be initially tested in a laboratory environment, followed by evaluations in sheltered marine waters, and finally modified to become a field prototype. This latter prototype, after being tested in sheltered waters, will be subject to validation and adjustments during and after the final testing phase in the offshore working environment. Finally, the project includes the investigation of a dedicated propulsion/maneuvering system, as well as the extension of the robotic system to additional tasks related to the maintenance and repair of the mooring line.
