rov

Army ROV clears underwater ordnance off Hawaii

Instead of human divers, the Army has used a robotic underwater vehicle to help recover and destroy more than 300 pounds of explosives found off Hawaii in an area that was a dumping ground for munitions after World War II.

Working from a barge, operators deployed the remotely operated underwater munitions recovery system (Roumrs) over Ordnance Reef, an area off the Waianae Coast of Oahu.

Equipped with lighting, scanning sonar, and video cameras, the off-the-shelf ROV has force-feedback manipulators that mimic hand and arm movements of its operator. It recovered 74 pieces of exploded ordnance and 2,300 small arms munitions, clearing most of the area, the Associated Press reported. … Read more

Remora ROV fishes out Air France black box

An American-built remotely operated vehicle (ROV) has finally retrieved the black box of an Air France jet that crashed in the Atlantic in 2009, killing all 228 people aboard.

The Remora 6000, built by Maryland-based Phoenix International, fished out the data recorder of Flight 447, an Airbus A330 that went down June 1, 2009 en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. It may have flown through thunderstorms but investigators still don't know why it crashed.

Wreckage from the aircraft was first spotted in early April, and the plane was found at a depth of about 3,900 meters (12,800 feet).

Photos of the orange recorder produced by Honeywell International suggest the device is intact, but it's unclear whether data can be retrieved from it after such a long period on the seabed. … Read more

ROVs fail to find Japanese missing in tsunami

TOKYO--An international team of robotics and engineering specialists used remotely operated underwater vehicles to search for human remains in coastal areas of Japan flattened by last month's tsunami but failed to find any of the missing, the group said Sunday.

The International Rescue System Institute, working with the Texas-based Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue (CRASAR), searched the waters off the annihilated communities of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, and Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture.

Members used a Seamor ROV and a Seabotix SARbot. The diving machines turned up sunken cars, flotsam, and personal effects but no bodies.

Robin Murphy of Texas A&… Read more

At Woods Hole, conquering the deep ocean

WOODS HOLE, Mass.--Although crews have managed to shut off--for now, at least--the flood of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, it is virtually certain that ongoing cleanup work will keep the concept of deep-sea science in the public's eye for some time.

That could be good news for the scientists and researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) here, one of the world's leading repositories of across-the-board ocean expertise, and the developers of a stunning collection of hardware and software tools designed to probe the countless mysteries of the deep.

I've come here as part … Read more

Can robots stop Gulf of Mexico oil spill?

It's robots to the rescue in the Gulf of Mexico--or at least that's what British oil giant BP hopes following a disastrous explosion and oil spill at the Transocean Deepwater Horizon oil rig, 130 miles southeast of New Orleans.

Officials have deployed robotic submarines in an effort to contain the spill, which has grown to cover an area measuring some 1,900 square miles. BP quoted National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration experts as saying the spill is "very thin" and on the surface of the ocean.

The agencies have deployed four remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to the wellhead about 5,000 feet below the ocean surface.

They are monitoring the leak, which was discovered Saturday, as well as trying to activate the blowout preventer, a 50-foot-tall, 450-ton mass of valves that can cap the wellhead and stop the oil flow.

The ROVs--which include machines such as the Millennium by oilfield engineering company Oceaneering--have apparently been on the job for several days, but without success. While ROVs have been used by the oil and gas industry for more than 30 years, this particular mission is highly complex due to the great depth of the wellhead, as well as the first of its kind.

"If you can visualize it, it's like robotic arms doing something outside the space station," BP spokesman Ron Rybarczyk was quoted by The Guardian as saying. "It is operating something with a mechanical claw on it that grasps things and turns things and adjusts equipment way down at the floor of the ocean." … Read more

Okeanos Explorer to delve the depths of the seas

Docked off San Francisco's Pier 27 and rocking calmly in the bay, the Okeanos Explorer awaits its return to sea.

The ship--once a U.S. Navy vessel now under control of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)--is in the midst of being outfitted exclusively for deep-ocean exploration and discovery. Its purpose will be to investigate unknown, misunderstood, and other below-the-surface phenomena. It is expected to be fully operational by next summer.

With up to 95 percent of the ocean unexplored, there are vast amounts of research for the ship to pursue. However, the Okeanos Explorer will have … Read more