Rovco Secures Funding for Underwater 3D Modelling Technology

Rovco, an ROV services company, has secured Innovate UK funding which will enable it to carry out research and development activity and perform a full feasibility study into the advancement of underwater 3D modelling technology.

The project will be 70% supported by Innovate UK and the remaining 30% will be funded by the newly-formed company Rovco.

Innovate UK is the UK Government’s innovation agency. It works with people, companies and partner organisations to identify and drive forward the technology that will help grow the UK economy.

Rovco chief executive and founder, Brian Allen said: “Innovate UK’s robotics and autonomous systems competition has allowed us to overcome some of the barriers that many start-ups face when trying to get their technology off the ground.

“The feasibility study will allow us to begin the process of further developing real-time underwater modelling systems which can be deployed by ROVs or AUVs. High resolution 3D models of subsea assets and environments can then be generated, from which accurate measurements can be instantaneously captured.

“As the subsea industry enters this new norm of a lower, for longer oil price, the need for innovative, cost reducing solutions that provide more meaningful data increases. By investing in this technology and getting it to market, we will be able to capture a true visual representation of the underwater world from which clients will be able to accurately estimate the remaining life of their subsea infrastructure and assess the integrity of their assets. At the same time vessel size and staff numbers can be reduced thereby saving costs and lowering associated risks.”