Flatfish

FlatFish is an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for repeated inspections of oil & gas subsea structures whilst being submerged for extended periods of time.

To achieve this, a variety of acoustic and optical sensors are employed and a subsea docking station has been designed

Two identical autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) were built, enabling simultaneous software development in both Brazil (Brazilian Institute of Robotics at SENAI-CIMATEC in Salvador) and Germany.

Mission scenario:
The vehicle is docked near an offshore facility and connected to a power supply and data uplink. The operator (either on the facility or at a remote location) commands the vehicle to perform an inspection task. Where the inspection target is remote from the facility the AUV undocks and follows a pipeline or flow line to a target area whilst collecting acoustic and visual data of the pipeline or flow line. Upon reaching the target area, acoustic and visual data from the inspection object is gathered. The vehicle then backtracks using acoustic and visual homing algorithms to return and connect to the docking station. The recorded data is then uploaded to be processed by automated systems and/or the human operator whilst the vehicle’s battery is being recharged. At the same time, the operator has the option of defining a follow-up mission.

DFKI’s contributions to the FlatFish project include the mechanical and electrical design of the vehicle as well as manufacturing and integration of the AUVs. Also, the basic software modules will be implemented at DFKI to allow for sensor data processing, vehicle control and navigation solutions such as waypoint following.
Higher-level algorithms will be developed as a joint effort between DFKI in Bremen and BIR in Salvador, Bahia.