Offshore oil and gas has become the industry where the latest high-tech robot swimmers are deployed and developed.

A "dolphin" originally invented for mine-hunting is set to be turned into a new breed of swimming "sailor" by a joint venture between Mentor Subsea Technology Services and International Submarine Engineering (ISE). Although this particular sailor doesn't salute, it can swim farther, faster, longer and deeper than your average naval rating.
And while Mentor and ISE are developing their latest subsurface vehicle, Halliburton has signed a deal to access technology from another robot "fish" that can operate unaided for up to 8 days.
More than 2 years after an initial feasibility study into the concept, Mentor and ISE have agreed to take their research forward to develop a semiautonomous intervention launch and recovery system (Sailars) that can be deployed from an unmanned semisubmersible.
The decision stems from several factors. One is the perceived growth in the international subsea market. Another is the desire to explore for and produce from greater water depths, which in turn is boosting demand for autonomous operational capabilities.
"Sailars is shaping up to be the most cost-effective means for deploying sight and robotic intervention to the seabed," said James Ferguson, vice president of development for ISE. "We are pleased that our efforts to date have shown this system to be technologically feasible, affordable and superior to competing AUV/ROV (autonomous underwater vehicle/remotely operated vehicle) concepts."
"The increased hydrocarbon production in deep water is also increasing the complexity and intervention of subsea systems," said Lee Taylor, division manager for technology products for J. Ray McDermott. Delegates at the recent Underwater Technology Conference in Tampa, Fla., had a chance to hear a paper from him on the subject. He suggested the Sailars concept can enhance an offshore project by saving money and some of the risk associated with providing a seabed intervention capability offshore.
Technical factors have made this project possible. Taylor cited information technology and advances in solid-state electronics as two. Advances in the reliability of remote controls also have helped to make this development possible, he said.
As a result, deployment of ROVs is practical and safe, not only for offshore oil and gas operations but also a range of other applications.
Mentor and ISE's confidence in Sailars has to be taken as a sign of the growing confidence in the opportunities that exist in the offshore subsea construction market.
And it was to this theme that Pierre Valentin, chairman and chief executive officer of Coflexip Stena Offshore, spoke at the turn of the year.
Valentin said he expected the market for subsea work to expand this year and next, based on the increased levels of expenditure he was hearing about.
"Recent news of growth in E&P spending supports our anticipation that our sector will see strong tendering activity in 2001," Valentin said. He predicted his company could expect to see a 15% rise in the value of the subsea installation market this year to US $2.8 billion, and a further rise to $3.2 billion in 2003.
Of course Valentin's figures are only an estimate. But it gives a guide to where the thoughts of one subsea industry player are headed.
Sailar development
The history of the Sailars project can be traced back to 1999 when Mentor asked ISE to carry out initial feasibility work. ISE already had a reputation for designing AUVs and ROVs, as well as terrestrial robots. Formed in 1974 and headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, ISE specializes in robotics, and the company's curriculum vitae lays claim to constructing 200 subsea vehicles and another 300 robots, plus 20 AUVs. Consequently, the Sailars design is based on ISE's Dolphin and Dorado semisubmersible vehicles, which previously were deployed for mine-hunting and hydrographic survey missions.
Then the Institute for Marine Dynamics, based in St. John's, Newfoundland, became involved, carrying out simulation and modeling in a wave tank. The Institute validated the seaworthiness of the concept, and work then was concentrated on improving radio telemetry and ROV-handling configurations.
Sailars development will continue this year with the aim of testing a prototype system within 2 years.
"Sailars can be used to inspect, repair and maintain communications cable, subsea pipelines, wellheads, manifolds and other seabed infrastructure in the oil and gas, communications and power industries," said Taylor.
Capable of operating in significant wave heights up to 15 miles (24 km) from a controlling platform, the new ISE/J. Ray concept is an AUV/ROV hybrid. It can operate and provide power for 50 150-hp work-class ROVs, the companies claim.
Compared to the fully submersible AUV in the hybrid role, the semisubmersible Sailars can provide much higher levels of endurance and power to the ROV, a continuous ability to transmit high-bandwidth ROV data to the controlling platform and more accurate positioning, the companies said.
Furthermore, Sailars does not require infrastructure support from an offshore platform, thus allowing it to be deployed from existing facilities, rather than only those that have equipment for ROVs.
Mentor and ISE see a range of applications for this new vehicle, including:
• monitoring touchdown;
• trenching support for cable, subsea pipelines and umbilicals;
• search and recovery; and
• oceanographic research where active sensing and sampling data is required.
Autosub commercialization
Oceanographic research is where the Autosub program at the Southampton Oceanography Centre (SOC) in the United Kingdom comes in. The SOC, a joint venture between the University of Southampton and the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), has commercialized the technology from its AUV development program with Halliburton.
Under the 10-year agreement, which will provide a multimillion-dollar spin-off for the SOC, Halliburton Subsea obtains access to the technical data from Autosub, essentially another robot fish. But this one is strictly for survey work.
Autosub can pick up data from sensors and then download it once it returns to the surface. It was developed by NERC and SOC with the Defence Establishment Research Association (DERA).
Having already swam or flown 250 missions, Autosub has just returned from a surveying assignment in the Antarctic on behalf of the British Antarctic Survey. It was sent below an iceberg. Incredibly, this unit can operate up to 8 days autonomously, although a more typical mission would be up to 5 days, its developers said. It can descend to a depth of 5,250 ft (1,600 m), and there are plans to take it to 6,560 ft (2,000 m). It can be deployed in choppy conditions via a gantry over the side of a vessel.
"It can go deeper and further than any AUV we know about," a spokeswoman for SOC said. Her caution reflects the fact that certain military systems may be able to outperform Autosub.
By using Autosub as a building block, Halliburton Subsea intends to take the British-developed unit further as an advanced survey vehicle for the oil and gas industry.
John Smith, vice president of Halliburton Subsea, said his company aims to use the system to improve the data quality, acquisition time and safety of survey work.
This means SOC will be able to bank on some of the rewards from its research efforts too. "We have always had the hope that the development of Autosub would lead to commercial applications," said Keith Birch, one of the development officers on the Autosub program at SOC. "We hope that the continued development of subsea technology at SOC for science missions, such as the under-ice program, will lead to further commercial applications."
Some of the money from the Halliburton deal will go to DERA and NERC.