SUBSEA SERVICES

International educational award for UK-built ROV

7 years ago

A compact platform Remotely Operated Vehicle has impressed judges with its suitability and robustness for operating in the challenging area of the educational sector.

Graduates and scientists from the Memorial University of Newfoundland prepare a Falcon as a development platform for the study of iceberg behaviour in shallow water

The Saab Seaeye Falcon ROV has been voted best educational ROV 2020 by International Ocean Systems magazine.

Captain Marc Deglinnocenti, reporting in International Ocean Systems, said: “Congratulations must go to Saab Seaeye, UK, for heading our list with the excellent Seaeye Falcon DR vehicle. The company ensures that all of its ROVs stay highly competitive, and the Falcon DR is an ROV that represents this philosophy by having a fibre optic tether as just one example. It’s priced at the 300-metre ROV level, however this ROV has a 1000-metre depth rating. Its power supply plugs into a simple single phase 110- or 230-volt AC wall socket. That gives it an unlimited dive time that’s easy to operate with its touchscreen and joystick controllers. The depth and heading sensors (navigation pod), two LED lights and a high-resolution colour camera are standard equipment. With a customisable data screen and a dizzying array of options, this ROV can provide hours of education and data collection at remarkable depths.

A 360-degree scanning sonar is one such option that sits on top of the ROV. Another option is a multibeam forward scanning sonar. Various types of manipulator arms are also available such as a simple three-prong gripstick, a mini cutter arm, a cleaning brush arm or a sophisticated manipulator arm skid. A metal thickness gauge, Doppler velocity log for auto station keeping, a laser scale, a CP probe to measure electrical currents, an altimeter to measure the distance above the seafloor, and a GPS tracking system are some more options. Many more options are available. The ROV is built in the United Kingdom, and maintains a high resale value.

I operated the Falcon DR at Global Diving & Salvage, Inc. in Seattle, Washington, USA, to see for myself how this ROV handles. The extra large diameter thrusters supplied a remarkable amount of power for its size. The controller functions are adjustable, so you can fight heavy currents with robust control settings and then switch to more sensitive controls for delicate work all within the same dive.”