Autonomous Pipeline Inspection Uses Rayfin Camera

Looking to make pipeline inspection easier and more cost efficient, a team from HiveGround in Thailand, under a project initiated by AI & Robotics Ventures (ARV), designed an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) from scratch. The Xplorer AUV solution is expected to soon be launched and HiveGround will be looking for commercial projects.

Looking to make pipeline inspection easier and more cost-efficient, a team from HiveGround in Thailand, under a project initiated by AI & Robotics Ventures (ARV), designed an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) from scratch. The Xplorer AUV solution is expected to soon be launched and HiveGround will be looking for commercial projects.

Included in Xplorer’s payload is SubC Imaging’s Rayfin smart camera. The subsea camera is programmable and runs an open-source API which will allow them to capture time-lapse HD and 4K video and 4K digital stills without the need for real-time control.

Some of the pipelines can reach up to 50 Km between facilities. The current procedure for surveying all of that subsea infrastructure involves deploying a tethered ROV from a costly dynamically positioned (DP) vessel. The Xplorer AUV solution is an untethered, more autonomous vehicle with the goal of being able to travel 100 Km and down to 200 m water depth.

“With this method, we can use a small vessel which saves operational costs compared with using a work class ROV or using a larger vessel,” says Sompol Suntharasantic, an electrical engineer at HiveGround.