Abstract:
Disclosed are apparatuses and methods for the adaptation of a subsea vehicle, such as an ROV, and in particular a hydraulically powered construction or maintenance work ROV. In one embodiment the vehicle is provided with a module or modules which provide further propulsion means that have reduced noise at high speed in comparison to the vehicle&#39;s main propulsion means. The module or modules also optionally provide greater performance and decreased drag. An ROV adapted in such a way is therefore suitable for high speed survey work. In another embodiment a hydraulic ROV is adapted to enable it to be able to directly drive electrically powered tools.

Description:
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    This invention relates to subsea vehicles such as Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) and in particular to apparatus and methods for the adaptation of ROVs for multi functional use. 
         [0002]    Submersible Remotely Operated Vehicles are vehicles for underwater use which, as their name suggests, are unmanned and controlled by an operator at a remote location. ROVs have many uses such as surveying and scanning large swathes of ocean floor, to construction, deployment/recovery or maintenance of subsea installations. For surveying work, high speed, stability and a low noise signature are important, while for construction high speed is not required, with good maneuverability, strength and tooling being paramount. As these types of operations require quite different capabilities, ROVs come in different shapes and sizes, adapted specifically for different types of work. 
         [0003]    Survey work, or metrology techniques undertaken by ROVs often rely on acoustic methods and survey ROVs in particular are often equipped with the necessary acoustic equipment for this type of work. However, in order for such techniques to be used successfully, background noise produced by the vehicle system, particularly the propulsion system should be kept to a minimum so as not to interfere with the sensitive acoustic signals. Consequently, as well as speed and agility, such vehicles require quiet propulsion systems in order to carry out acoustic surveying. The vehicle should be designed as a stable high speed/low noise system in order to maximise the quality of the survey data collected. 
         [0004]    Hydraulic propulsion systems tend to be very noisy due to the large number of components in the pumps, motors valves and connecting pipework. Electrically driven propulsion systems are much quieter as they have less components. There are very few large construction ROV systems that have electric propulsion, most have noisy hydraulic propulsion systems. 
         [0005]    ROVs designed for construction work tend to have hydraulically driven thrusters. The vehicles tend to be square in shape and their hydraulic thruster configuration not designed to propel the vessel at speed. Should these hydraulic systems be increased in power in order to increase speed, they become very noisy. As a result construction ROVs are unsuited for survey work. Conversely ROVs built for survey work are too long and have thrusters configured for forward speed and are therefore not equipped for intense construction work. 
         [0006]    Furthermore, as construction ROVs are hydraulically powered, they only have hydraulic power available for thrusters and tooling, the umbilical having only a single set of power cores to provide power to drive the hydraulic power unit (HPU). This limits the type and size of tooling that can be mounted to the ROV. Said tooling tends also to be noisy and inefficient. 
         [0007]    It would be desirable, therefore, to have a vehicle suitable for both high speed survey work and heavy construction work while achieving low noise performance. It would also be desirable to use electrically driven tooling on a vehicle designed only to use and provide hydraulic power. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    In a first aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus for adapting a subsea vehicle for at least a second function, said vehicle being originally adapted for at least a first function and having main propulsion means, said apparatus comprising a module for attachment to said subsea vehicle, said module being provided with further propulsion means for propelling the vehicle more quietly than when propelled by said main propulsion means. 
         [0009]    Said subsea vehicle may be a submersible Remotely Operated Vehicle or an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, and in particular a Remotely Operated Vehicle or Autonomous Underwater Vehicle wherein said first function is construction or maintenance work and said second function may be surveying work. 
         [0010]    Said main propulsion means may be powered hydraulically. Said further propulsion means may comprise one or more electrically powered thrusters. However any propulsion means quieter than hydraulic thrusters when propelling the vehicle at speed would be suitable. 
         [0011]    Said further propulsion means may be specifically configured for providing forward thrust 
         [0012]    Said module may also increase the performance and or speed capability of said subsea vehicle. 
         [0013]    Attachment of said module to the subsea vehicle may be by dedicated docking pin type interfaces. Said module preferably is designed for temporary attachment to said subsea vehicle and may be removable or replaceable by another module. 
         [0014]    Said subsea vehicle may have an umbilical attached for the supply of electrical power from a first supply to said subsea vehicle for generating a hydraulic supply, said umbilical being arranged to also supply electrical power from a second supply to said module. Said subsea vehicle may be directly attached to said umbilical for obtaining said electrical power from said first supply, said module being arranged to obtain said electrical power via said vehicle. Alternatively said subsea vehicle may be connected to the umbilical via a tether and associated tether management system. In this case, the tether would be used for the supply of electrical power from a first supply to said subsea vehicle to be used to generate a hydraulic supply, said tether being arranged to also supply electrical power from a second supply to said module. Said second supply may also be arranged to supply at least one electrically operated tool. Said at least one electrically operable tool may be mounted to said vehicle or said module. 
         [0015]    Said further (preferably electrical) propulsion means may be arranged to provide the main propulsion for the subsea vessel when said module is fitted while said main (usually hydraulic) propulsion means is used only for controlling heading and/or depth. 
         [0016]    Said further propulsion means may be arranged to obtain their power from said subsea vehicle, when in use. 
         [0017]    Said module may further comprise buoyancy to maintain neutral buoyancy and stabilisers such as fins to aid stability. 
         [0018]    Said module may be adapted for attachment at the rear of said subsea vehicle. Said apparatus may further comprise a further module, such as a nose cone, to improve the hydrodynamics of said subsea vehicle. Said nose cone may further comprise stabilisers, such as fins. 
         [0019]    In a further aspect of the invention there is provided a subsea vehicle fitted with the module(s) as described above. 
         [0020]    In a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method for adapting a subsea vehicle for at least a second function, said vessel being originally adapted for at least a first function comprising attaching a first module to said subsea vehicle, said first module being provided with thrusters for propelling the vehicle more quietly than when propelled by said main propulsion means. 
         [0021]    Said subsea vehicle may be a submersible Remotely Operated Vehicle, and in particular a Remotely Operated Vehicle adapted specifically for construction or maintenance work. 
         [0022]    Said further propulsion means may be specifically configured for providing forward thrust. 
         [0023]    Said subsea vehicle may be supplied with electrical power, via an attached umbilical, from a first supply said electrical power from said first supply being used to generate a hydraulic supply and said first module may be supplied electrical power from a second supply via said umbilical. Said subsea vehicle may be directly attached to said umbilical for said supply of electric power from said first supply, said first module being supplied said electrical power from said second supply via said vehicle. Alternatively said subsea vehicle may be connected to the umbilical via a tether and associated tether management system. In this case, the tether would be used for the supply of electrical power from a first supply to said subsea vehicle to be used to generate a hydraulic supply, said tether being arranged to also supply electrical power from a second supply to said module. Said second supply may also supply at least one electrically operated tool. Said at least one electrically operable tool may be mounted to said vehicle or said first module. 
         [0024]    Said module may be attached to the rear of said subsea vehicle. Said method may further comprise the step of attaching a second module, such as a nose cone, to improve the hydrodynamics of said subsea vehicle when moving. 
         [0025]    Said further propulsion means may, in use, obtain their power from said subsea vehicle. 
         [0026]    Said further propulsion means may be electrically powered. 
         [0027]    Said first module may further comprise buoyancy to maintain neutral buoyancy and stabilisers, such as fins, to aid stability. 
         [0028]    Said method may further comprise the removal of said module(s) and replacing it/them with a tooling module, said tooling module using a power supply which was used by said first module. 
         [0029]    In a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method for adapting a substantially hydraulically powered subsea vehicle to enable it to directly drive at least one electrically powered device, said vehicle normally only comprising a hydraulic power supply obtained from a main electrical supply, said method comprising providing an secondary electrical supply to said vehicle, both said main supply and secondary supply being supplied via an umbilical. 
         [0030]    Said subsea vehicle may be a submersible Remotely Operated Vehicle or an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle 
         [0031]    Said secondary electrical supply may be provided for the direct driving of any electrically powered tooling mounted on or used by said subsea vehicle. 
         [0032]    Said umbilical preferably has a different core or set of cores for delivering said main electrical supply and said secondary electrical supply, said main electrical supply and said secondary electrical supply being separate supplies. Said secondary electrical supply may be delivered directly to the vessel or via a tether and associated tether management system. In the latter case there may be provided a further core or set of cores in the umbilical to supply power to said tether management system. 
         [0033]    Said method may further comprise the fitting of a tooling module, such as an electrically powered water pump, said tooling module using said electrical supply. Said method may alternatively comprise the fitting of apparatus according to the first aspect of the invention, said electrical supply being used to power said further propulsion means. 
         [0034]    In a further aspect of the invention there is provided a substantially hydraulically powered subsea vehicle adapted for the direct driving of at least one electrically powered device, said vehicle normally only comprising a hydraulic power supply obtained from a main electrical supply, said vehicle comprising a secondary electrical supply, both said main supply and secondary supply being arranged to be supplied via an umbilical. 
         [0035]    Said subsea vehicle may be a submersible Remotely Operated Vehicle or an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle 
         [0036]    Said vehicle may have mounted to it electrically powered tooling, said secondary electrical supply being provided for the direct driving of said tooling. 
         [0037]    Said umbilical preferably has a different core or set of cores for delivering said main electrical supply and said secondary electrical supply, said main electrical supply and said secondary electrical supply being separate supplies. Said secondary electrical supply may be arranged to be delivered directly to the vessel or via a tether and associated tether management system. In the latter case there may be provided a further core or set of cores in the umbilical to supply power to said tether management system. 
         [0038]    Said vehicle may further comprise a tooling module fitted thereto said tooling module being arranged to use said electrical supply. Said tooling module may comprise an electrically powered water pump. Said vehicle may alternatively comprise the apparatus according to the first aspect of the invention fitted thereto, said electrical supply being used to power said further propulsion means. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0039]    Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0040]      FIG. 1  shows the apparatus according to one embodiment of the invention; comprised of a Thruster Module and a Nose Cone Module. 
           [0041]      FIG. 2  shows the apparatus of  FIG. 1  as attached to a Remotely Operated Vehicle 
           [0042]      FIGS. 3   a ,  3   b ,  3   c  and  3   d  show the power distribution in, respectively, a standard configuration of ROV and tether management system, a known configuration of ROV with a thrustered tether management system, the arrangement depicted in  FIG. 2  and a configuration for vehicle mounted electrically driven tooling according to a further embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0043]    The embodiments below are described in relation to the type of vehicles known as Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) but are equally applicable to Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) or any other type of unmanned underwater vehicle. 
         [0044]      FIG. 1  shows apparatus for converting a submersible Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) of a type particularly adapted for construction and maintenance work into one suitable for high speed, low noise survey work. 
         [0045]    The apparatus comprises a nose cone  100  and a thruster module  110 , these being removable add-on modules for an ROV. The thruster module  110  comprises electric thrusters  120 , buoyancy material or floats  130 , stability fins  140  and electrical connection means  150 . 
         [0046]      FIG. 2  shows the same apparatus in situ on ROV  200 . The ROV  200  is of known construction type, being essentially very square in shape and being equipped with a large hydraulic motor of about 150 HP. This shape and thruster configuration makes it unsuitable for survey work unmodified. 
         [0047]    The nose cone  100  is attached to the front of the ROV  200  and the thruster module  110  to the back. Attachment of the nose cone and module to the ROV may be by dedicated docking pin type interfaces although other means are envisaged. Said cone and module may be designed to be easily removable so that the ROV  200  is easily converted between both construction and survey modes of operation. 
         [0048]    The electrical connection means  150  on the thruster module  110  connects or is connected to an electrical source on the ROV  200 . The ROV will usually obtain this electrical source from its umbilical which also delivers the electrical source for its hydraulic power (the ROV being equipped with a Electro-Hydraulical power unit (HPU) for converting the electrical source into a hydraulic source). These two electrical sources are obtained from different supplies, and are delivered to the ROV/module via different cores in the umbilical. Such an umbilical, delivering two power sources, is known as a dual train umbilical. 
         [0049]    The addition of the electric thrusters  120  result in there being a further  110  HP available to propel the vehicle through the water. Electrical thrusters are also relatively low noise devices compared to hydraulic driven thrusters, particularly when being used at full power, and therefore any power increase obtained is not at the expense of greatly increased noise. This is particularly important for a vehicle relying on acoustic methods for surveying. It is also a much more efficient means of propulsion. 
         [0050]    In practice when carrying out high speed surveying operations, an ROV  200  suitably equipped with the thruster module  110  (and optional nose cone  100 ), has its hydraulic system pressure reduced to a minimum, its hydraulic thrusters being used only to provide automatic heading and depth control. All of the forward thrust is provided by the electrically driven rear mounted thruster module. Used in this way the ROV is not necessarily faster than if it was driven by its hydraulic thrusters alone, but is a lot quieter at high speed. 
         [0051]    Furthermore, the addition of the nose cone  100  and rear fins  140  greatly improves the hydrodynamics and high speed stability of the ROV  200  as it is propelled through the water, turning the ROV  200  from a largely cuboid shape to a sleeker vehicle and more similar in design to dedicated survey ROVs or to an AUV. The buoyancy  130  also helps provide stability. The nose cone could also incorporate fins or control surfaces to improve stability at high speeds. 
         [0052]      FIGS. 3   a  and  3   b  show the power distribution for two prior art systems designed for construction/maintenance type work.  FIG. 3   a  shows ROV  200  and Tether Management System (TMS)  310  connected by tether  320 . The TMS is also connected to the surface via main umbilical  340 .  FIG. 3   b  shows much the same apparatus but with the addition of thrusters  350  attached to the TMS, this enables the TMS  310  to move independently from the ROV  200 . 
         [0053]    In the example of  FIG. 3   a , the umbilical  340  is a typical dual power train umbilical providing power to both the TMS  310  and ROV  200 , via separate cores in the umbilical. The umbilical  340  provides  25  HP to the TMS  310  and  150  HP to the ROV  200  (via tether  320 ). In this configuration, the ROV  200  and TMS  310  are designed to be launched close to their worksite, and once there, the TMS  310  is designed to stay largely in one place while the ROV  200  undertakes its work. 
         [0054]    In  FIG. 3   b  the TMS  310  is equipped with thrusters providing 110 HP of thrust and is therefore capable of propelling itself. This enables the ROV  200  to be able to travel distances further than its tether would normally allow. The TMS can also be positioned better to support the ROV  200 . The facility to have a large 110 HP power train in the umbilical  340  to enable the TMS  310  to be Thruster powered improves the operational capability of the system. 
         [0055]    In the prior art examples shown in both  FIGS. 3   a  and  3   b , the dual power trains in the umbilical  340  are used to power hydraulic systems on the TMS  310  and ROV  200 . 
         [0056]    In  FIG. 3   c  it can be seen that the 150 HP supply provided to power the hydraulic ROV  200  and the 110 HP supply provided to power the electric thrusters  120  is obtained directly from the main umbilical  340 . The use of this dual power train to propel collectively the adapted ROV  200 ,  110 ,  100  (as opposed to the need to propel the TMS  310  separately as in the previous example), using both the ROV&#39;s hydraulic motor and the thruster module&#39;s electric thrusters, enables both a hydraulic propulsion system and an electric propulsion system to be used in conjunction on the one ROV  200 . This allows the main forward propulsion to be provided by the electrically driven thruster module  110 , operating at low noise, while the heading and depth control can be provided by the hydraulic system. This power and thruster configuration will provide for the ability of the vehicle  200  to achieve much greater velocities, whilst maintaining low noise output (significantly quieter than a standard construction ROV), particularly in conjunction with the increased streamlining resulting from the nose cone  100  and fins  140 . 
         [0057]    The provision of a second 110 HP electrical supply on the vehicle also allows for the vehicle  200  to power a number of items of electrically powered equipment or tooling. Traditionally, any tooling mounted on the vehicle would be driven by the vehicle hydraulic system. This generally restricts the capacity of tooling that can be used as it would be limited by the hydraulic supply available from the vehicle. By having a 110 HP electrical supply available on the vehicle, electrically driven tooling can be used thus avoiding the traditional limitation imposed by the vehicle hydraulic system. This enables the vehicle  200  to handle much larger tooling systems than previously possible as well as significantly increasing efficiency (electrically powered tools are more efficient than hydraulically powered tools). 
         [0058]    In the embodiment of  FIG. 3   c  the electrical supply is provided directly to the vehicle  200  from the umbilical  340 . As shown on  FIG. 1 , the thruster module  110  is able to source its power from the umbilical via the vehicle  200  and in particular electrical connector  150 . 
         [0059]    It is also envisaged that the 110 HP Thruster module could be replaced by an electrically driven 110 HP Tooling module. This could be done, for example, after completion of survey work and when construction is to begin again. An example of tooling modules which may be fitted is an electrically driven water pump. This could be used, for example, for dredging, pipeline pigging or pressure testing operations. 
         [0060]      FIG. 3   d  shows an embodiment where the thruster module has been replaced by tooling module  400 . In this embodiment the ROV is connected to the umbilical  410  via a tether  420  and TMS  310 . In this case the umbilical  410  is provided with 3 power trains, one for the TMS  310  (25 Hp), one for the hydraulic ROV  200  (150 HP) and one for the ROV mounted module&#39;s 110 HP supply. In the configuration shown the TMS supplies power to the 150 HP hydraulic power unit on the ROV while also providing the 110 HP electrical supply to the ROV and module respectively, via a single tether. Consequently, there is provided a 110 HP supply on the vehicle available for direct electrical driving of tooling. 
         [0061]    The foregoing examples are for illustration only and it should be understood that other embodiments and variations are envisaged without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example the power figures quoted are only examples and the skilled person will realise that other power distribution arrangements are possible.