Hydromea successfully trialed EXRAY, its wireless underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) system, within a full ballast water tank on one of TotalEnergies’ North Sea floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessels during November 2021. The ROV collected visual inspection data, validating system performance including wireless navigation and wireless communication. A final validation pilot will take place later this year.
The ROV pilot was able to command and control the vehicle and receive real-time 1080p video feedback using proprietary wireless optical communication technology that replaces a cabled connection. Without a tether attached, the risk of entanglement in confined spaces is reduced.
A validation pilot of the beta system is expected this summer, targeting a final validation later this year. Hydromea is currently looking for industry partners to work with in its next funded phase of the roadmap to kick off at the end of the year.
This project is funded by the Net Zero Technology Centre based in Aberdeen and is part of a larger development roadmap focused on enabling portable and affordable multi-robot inspections of the increasing number of submerged assets in the North Sea.
Hydromea, a Swiss-based underwater robotics company founded in 2014, is a graduate of the Centre’s TechX program, a clean energy accelerator program for technology startups. It launched its subsea wireless communication modem, LUMA X, in 2020. The modem can beam data using light at up to 10 Mbit/s with a 120° cone. The company said that enables real-time streaming of HD-quality video and 4K images wirelessly through water, allowing the operators of autonomous underwater vehicles to monitor its interventions from its control rooms onshore.