108 Nauticus Robotics’ Aquanaut Mk2 is part of a system designed to reduce the cost of offshore underwater survey and intervention work by exploiting the happy consequences that flow from eliminating the need for a tether while operating as an ROV or an AUV. The 4.2 t, 4.82 m-long, battery powered craft is now being introduced to the commercial market, principally the offshore wind, oil & gas sectors, along with a dedicated support vessel, an AIbased control system called ToolKITT and a suite of sensors and manipulation tools. Rated to a depth of 3000 m, the Aquanaut has been developed in parallel with the Hydronaut, an optionally crewed topside support vessel that is much smaller than typical support ships, which have to be large to carry the heavy-duty winch and associated topside structure needed to manage the tether for a substantial ROV. The company reckons this can save as much as 30-40% in operating costs and substantially reduce the environmental impact through lower emissions. Together, the Aquanaut and Hydronaut are called the Nauticus Fleet, of which Nauticus retains ownership and operational control, selling the services it provides. The idea for the Aquanaut emerged from the combined experience of CEO Nic Radford and his team, who developed mobile manipulation systems at NASA. “There we deployed manipulators on various mobility platforms including two and four-wheeled bases, arachnoidinspired legs, zero-gravity legs, and humanoid legs,” says vice-president of engineering at Nauticus, Jide Akinyode. “Along with the hardware design, we spent a lot of time on software development, specifically how to operate these complex robotic platforms in remote locations across poor comms links to do useful work.” From a design engineering standpoint, one of the biggest challenges came in packaging the required sensors, computers and manipulators to fit inside the vehicle while retaining a shape with the hydrodynamic efficiency to support long-range missions and retain enough Peter Donaldson examines this AUV which, with its optionally crewed topside support vessel, provides a cheaper and cleaner way to inspect underwater equipment Pipeline partners October/November 2023 | Uncrewed Systems Technology Artist’s impression of the Aquanaut Mk2 and the Hydronaut, its optionally crewed topside support vessel with a stern-mounted launch & recovery system (Images courtesy of Nauticus Robotics)
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2Mzk4