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30 MTR March 2011 tion missions. Rechargeable Li-Ion provides the best and safest all round solution, and has made gradual improvements over the past 10 years. No replacement tech- nology is on the near-term horizon, but several emerging technologies, primarily driven by military require- ments, should eventually enable com- mercial subsea vehicles to achieve increased mission durations at accept- able costs. Kelly, Bluefin Bluefin is continuously investigating new ways of overcoming the technical challenges of AUVs. There are two leading challenges we face: one, reliable, hi-bandwidth communications for vehicle opera- tion and data transfer, and two, a power solution with greater energy- density for longer durations and high power sensors. Manley, Liquid Robotics We used to talk about power, communications and navigation as the three obstacles to improved UUVs. Generally speak- ing navigation and communication systems have come a long way. While greater precision and increased band- width are always desirable, current offerings get most jobs done. Unfortunately, energy storage is still a major challenge. Today’s most capa- ble UUVs have made use of sophisticate ideas, from buoyan- cy engines to extreme drag reduc- tion, to increase performance. These improvements tend to be accompanied by an increase in cost, complexity or both. For example the UUV endurance leaders, buoyancy driven gliders, require careful atten- tion to weight and balance. This is acceptable to many users but not all. Fuel cells have proven to be viable for long range survey AUVs, but the maintenance cycle can be very demanding. Current energy storage technologies are evolving slowly and radical advances have yet to material- ize. Much can be accomplished with today’s UUVs but even a simple dou- bling of endurance, without an asso- ciated cost or complexity increase, would widen the base of viable appli- cations. Grant, Saab Seaeye UUVs efficien- cies. The gap between electric work ROVs and hydraulic work ROVs has closed, leading to an increased use of electric vehicles with significant sav- ings in the cost of ownership that offers a more effective solution for many work tasks. Longer term cost savings will also come with the growing use of hybrid ROVs for maintenance, inspection and light work tasks, where a support vessel is not needed. The challenge is to make both ROVs and hybrid AUVs more intelligent and allow for more semi-autonomous operation. We also need to provide improved tooling and sensors to reduce the time to perform the underwater tasks, especially for ROV operations. Charbonneau, Deep Ocean Vehicles must be designed to integrate a wide host of ancillary sensors for easy expansion as new sensors are devel- oped. Power and Control systems must provide the ability to work in strong currents and in hazardous work environments. How was business in 2010? How does it look for 2011? Anderson, OceanServer As a small company, we have gradually improved our product features, cus- tomer relationships and brand recog- nition, resulting in revenue growth and a positive business outlook. 2010 was a very good year, and 2011 should be as well. Charbonneau, Deep Ocean Deep Ocean Engineering has undergone a major change in operations. The company has relocated to a manufac- turing facility in Cataumet, MA. 2010 was a reconstruction year and 2011 has many potential increases as we work with our existing customer base and search out new customers for our products. Grant, Saab Seaeye After a slow first half in 2010, business picked up in the year and 2011 looks to be as good as the record years of 2008 and 2009. What do you count as your compa- ny’s leading strength(s)? Kelly, Bluefin Not only does Bluefin provide five different AUV models, but Bluefin is a full AUV lifecycle Justin Manley, Liquid Robotics Liquid Robotics is providing improved connectivity to subsea systems through our “gateway” capability.
