Ocean services provider DeepOcean has been awarded the Offshore Technology Conference’s (OTC) 2024 Spotlight on New Technology Award for its Autonomous Inspection Drone (AID).
The Spotlight on New Technology Award is given to OTC exhibitors who are reshaping the offshore energy sector through their innovation and development of technologies. This year’s award recipients were selected based on the following criteria: Product uniqueness, degree of ingenuity, demonstrated success, commercial viability, and the ability to make a significant impact across the offshore industry.
“The objective of the AID is to perform subsea inspection work more cost-efficiently while also extracting better and more precise data quality, which adds significant value to operators. We are delighted that OTC recognises the AID’s impact potential through this prestigious award,” says Øyvind Mikaelsen, CEO of DeepOcean.
Øyvind Mikaelsen, CEO of DeepOcean. (Image credit: DeepOcean)
Autonomous Inspection Drone
The AID project is a strategic partnership between DeepOcean, Argus Remote systems and Vaarst where a system has been developed with industry guidance, support, and funding from Aker BP to bring a platform to market.
The AID is based on a Rover MK2 ROV from Argus Remote Systems, with upgraded hardware and software packages. Argus is responsible for the AID platform and navigation algorithm. DeepOcean is responsible for the digital twin platform, mission planner software and live view of the AID in operation, while Vaarst is responsible for machine vision camera “Subslam 2x” for autonomous navigation and data collection.
The AID measures 1.25 x 0.85 x 0.77 meters and weighs 320 kilograms in air and can operate in water depths down to 3,000 meters. It can fly in DP mode and has both station keeping and remote-control functionalities.
The inspection data from the AID is streamed onshore and the position of the vehicle is continuously being streamed back into the digital twin to ensure high data quality and increase situational awareness.
First trialed at Alvheim
Last year, the AID successfully completed subsea trials at the Aker BP operated Alvheim field in the central North Sea. As part of a ten-day inspection campaign, Aker BP and DeepOcean inspected subsea trees and other subsea infrastructure. The mission control was supervised both locally from the Edda Fauna vessel and remotely from Remota’s remote operations centre (ROC) in Haugesund, Norway.
“Our experience from the Alvheim job and subsequent inspection work confirm that the AID is capable of realising substantial reductions in operating costs, emissions and HSE risk for operators,” adds Øyvind Mikaelsen.
The 2024 Spotlight on New Technology Award recipients will be honored at this year’s OTC conference on Monday, 6 May at NRG Center in Houston, Texas, USA.
