Use of robotic arm systems in subsea industry

Robotic arm systems (underwater manipulators) are being used in the offshore industries, especially in executing subsea intervention operations.

Robotic arms can be mounted on remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) and in some cases on autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).

The systems are used for a variety of subsea tasks in different industries including offshore oil and gas, marine renewable energy and marine civil engineering as well as in marine science and military applications.

Robotic arms can be used for conducting different tasks like pipeline inspections, cable laying and repair, mine disposal, salvage of sunken objects, geological sampling etc.

The payload capacity for underwater manipulators ranges from 5 kg up to 500 kg with the depth capacity of commercially available systems between 3000 and 6500 meters.

During the last year a couple of companies secured funds to advance designs of robotic arm systems, while others just introduced their systems and plan to bring them to the market in 2020.

Blueprint Lab’s Reach Bravo manipulator

Blueprint Lab, a provider of light-weight robotic arms for UUVs, has just made a commercial launch of the Reach Bravo robotic arm system.

The company expects the first orders to ship to its pre-release customers in July 2020.

Reach Bravo, with a manipulator lift of 10kg at full reach, is a part of electric 7-function subsea manipulators.

The system has an underwater weight of 4.5kg, with a depth rating of 300MSW.

“We’ve been able to develop this next-generation manipulator by using our new break-through, patented joint design. This technology allows for compact drive mechanisms and minimal pressure seals, reducing the risk of leakage and protecting individual modules in the manipulator system.

“To date, dexterous manipulators were reserved for work-class vehicles. Now, there is an opportunity for OEMs and service providers to re-write what inspection class vehicles can do and change up the subsea intervention and inspection landscape,” Blueprint Lab said in a statement.

RE2 Robotics DM2S technology

RE2 Robotics recently received funding from the Office of Naval Research for its DM2Stechnology.

RE2’s DM2S technology will provide Navy personnel with the ability to autonomously perform mine countermeasure (MCM) missions.

The company will use the funding to upgrade the dual-arm prototype, knowns as the Maritime Dexterous Manipulation System (MDMS), for the use in deep ocean.

MDMS use of electromechanical system gives it ability to perform longer-duration subsea inspection and intervention tasks while reducing maintenance and downtime.

ECA Group Arm 5E

One more robotic arm worth mentioning is the ECA Group Arm 5E, a lightweight electrical arm used for underwater inspection and maintenance tasks.

Not so long ago the company delivered the Arm 5E to Ictineu Submarines, to support the Ictineu 3 manned submarines’ subsea missions in Europe.

Depth rated to 6000m, the oil filled 5E arm is used to conduct precise and articulated manipulation works

This arm can be installed on any type of ROVs, and can be fitted with many kinds of grabbers: standard, bucket, with parallel jaws.

Once installed on the Ictineu 3 manned submarine the arm allowed the collection and retrieval of samples or other objects, which extended the scope of Icteneu’s scientific/archaeological missions and industrial interventions.

Submarine Technology Ltd (STL)’s ship based multi-axis robotic arm

At the end we will mention one more robotic arm, the Submarine Technology Ltd (STL)’s ship based multi-axis robotic arm for autonomous operations.

The arm is an integral part of an Autonomous Synchronised Stabilised Platform (ASSP) to enable intervention tasks to be carried from Autonomous Surface Vessels (ASV).

In 2019, STL received Marine-i, the EU funded programme set up to boost marine innovation in Cornwall, grant to help the robotic arm development.

The arm can be used in multiple intervention tasks such as equipment transfer and payload management, survey and inspection, launch and recovery etc.

In addition, the stabilised robotic arm can also be on-board manned vessels, for example for launch and recovery of underwater ROVs and AUVs.

With all the available undersea robotic technology on the market, different types of unmanned vehicles with manipulator arms are used for subsea tasks. The researchers are continuing to refine their designs with a goal of being able to perform the most complex tasks.

We earlier touched some aspects of robotic technology with the article on ‘The next generation of subsea robots’, and we plan to deliver more insight on the technology used underwater, and its use is in offshore renewable industries – so stay tuned.