Underwater robotics in the future of arctic oil and gas operations

Master's thesis in Petroleum engineeringArctic regions have lately been in the centre of increasing attention due to high vulnerability to climate change and the retreat in sea ice cover. Commercial actors are exploring the Arctic for new shipping routes and natural resources while scientific activity is being intensified to provide better understanding of the ecosystems. Marine surveys in the Arctic have traditionally been conducted from research vessels, requiring considerable resources and involving high risks where sea ice is present. Thus, development of low-cost methods for collecting data in extreme areas is of interest for both industrial purposes and environmental management. The main objective of this thesis is to investigate the use of underwater vehicles as sensor platforms for oil and gas industry applications with focus on seabed mapping and monitoring. Theoretical background and a review of relevant previous studies are provided prior to presentation of the fieldwork, which took place in January 2017 in Kongsfjorden (Svalbard). The fieldwork was a part of the Underwater Robotics and Polar Night Biology course offered at the University Centre in Svalbard. Applied unmanned platforms included remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and an autonomous surface vehicle (ASV). They were equipped with such sensors as side-scan sonar, multi-beam echo sounder, camera and others. The acquired data was processed and used to provide information about the study area. The carried out analysis of the vehicle performance gives an insight into challenges specific to marine surveys in the Arctic regions, especially during the period of polar night. The discussion is focused on the benefits of underwater robotics and integrated platform surveying in remote and harsh environment. Recommendations for further research and suggestions for application of similar vehicles and sensors are also given in the thesis

A Unified Task Priority Control Framework Design for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

In this thesis, we investigate the problem of bringing various behaviours of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles under a common control framework. Thereby, we propose a unified guidance and control framework for AUVs based on the task priority control approach. This incorporate various behaviors such as path following, terrain following, obstacle avoidance, as well as homing and docking to stationary and moving docking stations. The integration of homing and docking maneuvers into the task priority framework is thus a novel contribution of this thesis. This integration allows, for example, to execute homing maneuvers close to uneven seafloor or obstacles, ensuring the safety of the AUV by giving the highest priority to the safety tasks. Furthermore, the proposed approach tackles a wide range of scenarios without ad hoc solutions. Indeed, the proposed approach is well suited for both the emerging trend of resident AUVs, which stay underwater for a long period inside garage stations, exiting to perform inspection and maintenance missions and homing back to them, and for AUVs that are required to dock to moving stations such as surface vehicles, or towed docking stations. The proposed techniques are further studied in a simulation setting, taking into account the rich number of aforementioned scenarios

Maritime Data Transfer Protocol (MDTP): A Proposal for a Data Transmission Protocol in Resource-Constrained Underwater Environments Involving Cyber-Physical Systems

The utilization of autonomous maritime vehicles is becoming widespread in operations that are deemed too hazardous for humans to be directly involved in them. One of the ways to increase the productivity of the tools used during missions is the deployment of several vehicles with the same objective regarding data collection and transfer, both for the benefit of human staff and policy makers. However, the interchange of data in such an environment poses major challenges, such as a low bandwidth and the unreliability of the environment where transmissions take place. Furthermore, the relevant information that must be sent, as well as the exact size that will allow understanding it, is usually not clearly established, as standardization works are scarce in this domain. Under these conditions, establishing a way to interchange information at the data level among autonomous maritime vehicles becomes of critical importance since the needed information, along with the size of the transferred data, will have to be defined. This manuscript puts forward the Maritime Data Transfer Protocol, (MDTP) a way to interchange standardized pieces of information at the data level for maritime autonomous maritime vehicles, as well as the procedures that are required for information interchange.SWARMs (Smart and Networking Underwater Robots in Cooperation Meshes) 1034 European research project. It is under Grant Agreement 1035 n.662107-SWARMs-ECSEL-2014-1 and is being partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Ref: PCIN-2014-022-C02-02) and the ECSEL JU

Overview of Key Technologies for Water-based Automatic Security Marking Platform

Water-based automatic security marking platform composed of multifunctional underwater robots and unmanned surface vessel has become the development trend and focus for exploring complex and dangerous waters,and its related technologies have flourished and gradually developed from single control to multi-platform collaborative direction in complex and dangerous waters to reduce casualties. This paper composes and analyzes the key technologies of the water-based automatic security marking platform based on the cable underwater robot and the unmanned surface vessel, describes the research and application status of the key technologies of the water-based automatic security marking platform from the aspects of the unmanned surface vessel, underwater robot and underwater multisensor information fusion, and outlooks the research direction and focus of the water automatic security inspection and marking platform

Development and Design of ROV Manipulator

The thesis is carried out in collaboration with the student organization UiS Subsea. The primary objective of this thesis is to design and develop a manipulator for the ROV, named YME, using the product development process (PDP). The end goal is to showcase the final product at the MATE ROV Competition 2023. The importance of sustainability has been highlighted in recent years, and this year, MATE ROV Competition focuses on the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable development (2021-2030), and challenge students to contribute to UNs Sustainability goals by seeking sustainable solutions for their projects. The product development process consisted of four phases: planning, concept development, concept generation, and product concept selection. The planning process focused on resource allocation, declaring a mission statement, and establishing a good foundation for the process ahead. Gathering benchmarking information and establishing target specifications was a crucial part of the concept development phase, prior to the concept generation process, as the information and specifications served as a guidance and outline for the concepts to be generated. By a circular economy approach, the reuse of old components within UiS Subsea was evaluated, and potential components were located. The circular economy approach influenced design decisions, and resulted in cost and timeefficiency, and contribution towards sustainability in engineering practices. Concepts were generated for both the manipulator arm and end-effector, and the most promising ones were selected for further development. Eventually one concept for the arm, and one for the end-effector, was selected and further developed through detailed design. Through detailed design, a complete CAD model of the manipulator was made, also material was selected and necessary calculations were performed. The outcome was a three degree of freedom manipulator arm with a rotating end-effector, pitch function, xv and a telescope function. Through prototyping and extensive testing, the design was evaluated and deemed sufficient according to customer needs and target specifications. The outcome of the project was a fully functional ROV Manipulator able to perform all the required MATE tasks, and contributed greatly towards the successful qualification to the 2023 MATE ROV Competition. However, there was room for further improvement and optimization of both the manipulator and the process, and hopefully the manipulator can serve as a foundation for future UiS Subsea manipulator projects.The thesis is carried out in collaboration with the student organization UiS Subsea. The primary objective of this thesis is to design and develop a manipulator for the ROV, named YME, using the product development process (PDP). The end goal is to showcase the final product at the MATE ROV Competition 2023. The importance of sustainability has been highlighted in recent years, and this year, MATE ROV Competition focuses on the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable development (2021-2030), and challenge students to contribute to UNs Sustainability goals by seeking sustainable solutions for their projects. The product development process consisted of four phases: planning, concept development, concept generation, and product concept selection. The planning process focused on resource allocation, declaring a mission statement, and establishing a good foundation for the process ahead. Gathering benchmarking information and establishing target specifications was a crucial part of the concept development phase, prior to the concept generation process, as the information and specifications served as a guidance and outline for the concepts to be generated. By a circular economy approach, the reuse of old components within UiS Subsea was evaluated, and potential components were located. The circular economy approach influenced design decisions, and resulted in cost and timeefficiency, and contribution towards sustainability in engineering practices. Concepts were generated for both the manipulator arm and end-effector, and the most promising ones were selected for further development. Eventually one concept for the arm, and one for the end-effector, was selected and further developed through detailed design. Through detailed design, a complete CAD model of the manipulator was made, also material was selected and necessary calculations were performed. The outcome was a three degree of freedom manipulator arm with a rotating end-effector, pitch function, xv and a telescope function. Through prototyping and extensive testing, the design was evaluated and deemed sufficient according to customer needs and target specifications. The outcome of the project was a fully functional ROV Manipulator able to perform all the required MATE tasks, and contributed greatly towards the successful qualification to the 2023 MATE ROV Competition. However, there was room for further improvement and optimization of both the manipulator and the process, and hopefully the manipulator can serve as a foundation for future UiS Subsea manipulator projects

Development and Design of ROV Manipulator

The thesis is carried out in collaboration with the student organization UiS Subsea. The primary objective of this thesis is to design and develop a manipulator for the ROV, named YME, using the product development process (PDP). The end goal is to showcase the final product at the MATE ROV Competition 2023. The importance of sustainability has been highlighted in recent years, and this year, MATE ROV Competition focuses on the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable development (2021-2030), and challenge students to contribute to UNs Sustainability goals by seeking sustainable solutions for their projects. The product development process consisted of four phases: planning, concept development, concept generation, and product concept selection. The planning process focused on resource allocation, declaring a mission statement, and establishing a good foundation for the process ahead. Gathering benchmarking information and establishing target specifications was a crucial part of the concept development phase, prior to the concept generation process, as the information and specifications served as a guidance and outline for the concepts to be generated. By a circular economy approach, the reuse of old components within UiS Subsea was evaluated, and potential components were located. The circular economy approach influenced design decisions, and resulted in cost and timeefficiency, and contribution towards sustainability in engineering practices. Concepts were generated for both the manipulator arm and end-effector, and the most promising ones were selected for further development. Eventually one concept for the arm, and one for the end-effector, was selected and further developed through detailed design. Through detailed design, a complete CAD model of the manipulator was made, also material was selected and necessary calculations were performed. The outcome was a three degree of freedom manipulator arm with a rotating end-effector, pitch function, and a telescope function. Through prototyping and extensive testing, the design was evaluated and deemed sufficient according to customer needs and target specifications. The outcome of the project was a fully functional ROV Manipulator able to perform all the required MATE tasks, and contributed greatly towards the successful qualification to the 2023 MATE ROV Competition. However, there was room for further improvement and optimization of both the manipulator and the process, and hopefully the manipulator can serve as a foundation for future UiS Subsea manipulator projects

Next Generation IMR RROV/AUV/eROV operations

Master's thesis in Technology and Operations ManagementThe oil and gas industry is rapidly changing. The oil price is fluctuating and there has currently been an excess of personnel. Today's Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) operations are demanding and costly, requiring a support vessel at all times. As subsea assets are aging, the need for inspection and new technology at a lower cost is increasing. The specific problem for this thesis was to: ● Challenge today’s operations setup and mindset of ROV operation and look into future Resident ROV (RROV) / Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) and Empowered ROV (eROV) operations. ● Demonstrate possible economic benefit by adapting to new concepts and new technologies (business driven innovation). New technologies such as Resident ROV (RROV) and Empowered ROV (eROV) are currently introduced and under development. The main feature of this technology is that it allows for remote piloting from an Onshore Control Center (OCC). There appears to be a paradigm change in which the ROV and the industry is becoming more and more electrified and autonomous. Comparison is made to other industries such as the aviation and automobile industry. In the latter, there is a powertrain shift moving to hybrids and electric vehicles. Key words in this new paradigm are “autonomous”, “resident” and “electric” (ref. FFU conference 2017). This master thesis investigates ROV operations and the state of the art technology that is currently available. It outlines how the Company’s operations are planned and executed today and details new ROV technology under development. The thesis also reviews the Company’s resources available and estimates cost of establishing and running an Onshore Control Center (OCC). As a theoretical basis, the master thesis uses Integrated (remote) Operations, Digitalization trends, Sharing Economy and Cost Effectiveness, Scenario Thinking and Dynamic resources and capabilities. Today’s operations are planned manually. It requires a surface support vessel at all times due to the umbilical connected to the ROV. The ROV is controlled locally from the vessel. These operations are costly and gives limited flexibility. An incentive for removing the umbilical - ROV working independently - has been going on for decades. New developing technology allows signals to be transferred via fiber or using telecommunications, which opens up for controlling the ROV from an OCC. An OCC will give more flexibility because one ROV crew can control several ROVs at different locations subsea. This gives operational benefits. Until ROVs in the future are fully autonomous (long term future scenario), a supporting vessel is required to move the eROV from one location to the other. The thesis uses towing as a concept to put the new eROV technology into an “operational context” in order to maximize use of the eROV concept. Future operations also require a subsea infrastructure with hubs/docking stations to recharge the eROV and gain access to tooling etc. Until an infrastructure is fully established, relocation of the eROV from one location to another should be looked into in more detail - to optimize operations. Better planning and sharing of resources could lead to a more sustainable business model. This thesis shows that it is feasible to use towing as a method to relocate the ROV if the eROV concept is fully introduced and developed. During the study the importance of people, processes and governance appeared - rather than just focusing on new technology. In order to succeed implementing new technology it is important that man, technology and organisation are connected and that collaboration is recognized. If the cost assumptions in this thesis are correct, and if sharing of other support vessels/optimized operations is viable, the eROV concept could be a more sustainable business model. A certain number of ROV hours are needed to get the hourly ROV rate down as it is very costly to run an OCC around the clock (24 hours a day, 7 days a week)

An energy-aware architecture : a practical implementation for autonomous underwater vehicles

Energy awareness, fault tolerance and performance estimation are important aspects for extending the autonomy levels of today’s autonomous vehicles. Those are related to the concepts of survivability and reliability, two important factors that often limit the trust of end users in conducting large-scale deployments of such vehicles. With the aim of preparing the way for persistent autonomous operations this work focuses its efforts on investigating those effects on underwater vehicles capable of long-term missions. A novel energy-aware architecture for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) is presented. This, by monitoring at runtime the vehicle’s energy usage, is capable of detecting and mitigating failures in the propulsion subsystem, one of the most common sources of mission-time problems. Furthermore it estimates the vehicle’s performance when operating in unknown environments and in the presence of external disturbances. These capabilities are a great contribution for reducing the operational uncertainty that most underwater platforms face during their deployment. Using knowledge collected while conducting real missions the proposed architecture allows the optimisation of on-board resource usage. This improves the vehicle’s effectiveness when operating in unknown stochastic scenarios or when facing the problem of resource scarcity. The architecture has been implemented on a real vehicle, Nessie AUV, used for real sea experiments as part of multiple research projects. These gave the opportunity of evaluating the improvements of the proposed system when considering more complex autonomous tasks. Together with Nessie AUV, the commercial platform IVER3 AUV has been involved in the evaluating the feasibility of this approach. Results and operational experience, gathered both in real sea scenarios and in controlled environment experiments, are discussed in detail showing the benefits and the operational constraints of the introduced architecture, alongside suggestions for future research directions