Aker BP, DeepOcean and Forssea Robotics have collaborated to develop the underwater Autonomous Inspection Drone (AID) .
According to Aker, the use of AID allows autonomous surveys to be carried out, to collect data in a smarter way and to gain better support for comparisons and changes over time.
The companies conducted the first offshore full-scale test on subsea templates at Aker BP’s Skarv field, 210 kilometres west of the Norwegian coast in water depths of approximately 400 metres.
“ The AID is an important stepping stone for further development of this technology, fully autonomous subsea drones that are independent of their mother vessel “, said Terje Hammer Meling , project lead AID at Aker BP.
Rodrigo Castro , ROV product manager at Forssea Robotics added that the AID comprises the most advanced subsea positioning and navigation systems available on the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) market.
“ However, it is the embedded software developed by Forssea Robotics that brings the most disruptive smart features to transform this standard ROV into a fully autonomous subsea drone”, Castro said.
Saipem and WSense, an Italian start-up, have also been collaborating on developing complex communication networks for subsea drones.
The companies will design and qualify the so-called multi-purpose intelligent nodes to be interfaced to subsea drones engineered and operated by Sonsub , Saipem’s centre of excellence for submarine technology innovation.