Coordinateurs du projet
Context
The BIOROV project ultimately aims to assist in the autonomous monitoring of underwater structures, such as anchors or dynamic cables for floating offshore wind turbines.
These artificial installations are particularly prone to biofouling and require regular inspection. Biofouling is a generic term that encompasses all marine species that colonize the components of underwater structures. This induces changes in hydrodynamic load due to the added mass, the increase in component size (screen effect), and the change in water flow properties around the components (roughness effect); this phenomenon therefore requires accurate quantification in order to plan the maintenance of these structures.
Due to the high uncertainty of this phenomenon over time, underwater inspections are the only way to update information at a given moment in order to schedule a cleanup. Currently, this task is performed either by human divers or by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), which is deployed from a ship or surface platform. Typical problems include the cost and risk associated with mobilizing numerous human operators in an environment that can become dangerous in the case of mobile structures (cables, umbilicals). It is also difficult to schedule regular inspections due to uncertainty about weather conditions. In addition, it has been shown that underwater conditions (light, turbidity) affect the accuracy of the inspection and, consequently, the updating of information [O’Byrne et al. 2018, et al., Schoefs et al., 2021].
Autonomous inspection and monitoring of marine growth appears to be an attractive alternative, as an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) can be easily deployed from the coast or an offshore station, travel to the underwater structure, and submit the inspection report.
It is in this context that the BIOROV-GPS project, winner of the WEAMEC Equipment call for projects in 2021, aims to acquire a GPS, an instrumented probe, and a test station to equip a BlueROV.
Scientific breakthroughs and innovation
The BIOROV-GPS project addresses one of the limitations of RoVs and AUVs, namely accurate positioning in relation to the structure under consideration. The BlueROV robot has already been equipped with cameras and a turbidity sensor. The project aims to acquire additional equipment to improve the reliability of methods for characterizing biocolonization on underwater structures, including those in motion (anchors, umbilicals):
- A GPS and its three beacons for global geopositional tracking (CAD relationship);
- An instrumented probe for tagging images at the ideal distance (the automatic calculation and stabilization software is being developed as part of the GOROV project funded by the Carnot Mers institute);
- An electronic card adaptable to any ROV and integrating all contextual data (turbidity sensor, depth, GPS coordinates, distance badge);
- A station equipped with beacon support coupons for quality testing in tanks or at sea. (tests carried out as part of the GOROV project funded by the Carnot Mers Institute).
Expected technical and economic impact
The BIOROV-GPS project will enable the development of unique and distinctive expertise in the automatic analysis of biofouling by ROV (AuV), thereby improving the quality of monitoring for anchor lines and umbilicals, which are particularly susceptible to biofouling and present specific technical challenges and safety issues.