Fugro General Robotics Limited – Extending Subsea Simulation and Visualisation Technologies a report by Jason Tisdall Managing Director, Fugro General Robotics Limited
The leading European producer of remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) simulators is Fugro General Robotics Limited (FGRL) in Milton Keynes. Founded in 1988 and acquired by the Fugro Group in September 2009, FGRL is a highly experienced provider of subsea visualisation and simulation systems. FGRL’s core product is the DeepWorks platform, which provides visualisation, simulation, training and live monitoring capabilities, depending on the libraries used.
The DeepTouch pilot training simulator is DeepWorks, using the simulation, hydraulic and electrical libraries (collectively called DeepTouch). With its ROVolution predecessor, this reproduces the actual subsea conditions with which a ROV pilot must work. An important feature of this is the hydrodynamic modelling of objects in the water, so the ROV simulator responds to the controls just like its real counterpart. Behaviour is based on actual physical properties: mass, density, drag, taking account of currents, ROV speed and the resultant forces acting on the tether and the ROV.
Different visibility conditions can also be simulated, with varying light levels, water fogging and suspended particles, together with an accurate sonar system to provide realistic support data. DeepWorks adds a vital capability with fully force-modelled physics simulation bringing ‘touch and feel’ to simulation tools.
FGRL has won significant contracts for ROVolution from Sonsub, DeepOcean and Fugro, among others. Sonsub, for example, uses an integrated FGRL ROVolution system to simulate its innovator ROV for training and assessing pilots in Aberdeen, while its Singapore office uses a generic ROV console for its simulator.
FGRL believes that engineering and planning tools are converging, as demonstrated by the DeepWorks platform, so not only can deployment of equipment to the seabed be visualised taking in live inputs, but control and simulation are coming together to allow the operator to respond to events and actually drive what is happening in the real world.
‘Convergent systems’ are the big leap forward that combines live data and physics-based simulated data. A convergent system takes live data from instruments on vessels and the ROV, such as global positioning system (GPS), ultra-short baseline (USBL) or current profilers. These live data are processed in realtime and used as input to FGRL’s dynamic simulation engine to solve the dynamic components in realtime: what tethers, risers and mooring lines are doing based on the currents they are recording. For the first time the result is a view not just of where the instrumented items are, but that provides a good estimate of where other connected dynamic items are.
These developments promise huge benefits not just in improved training and reduced operation timescales but in greater operational
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predictability and reliability, leading in turn to improved safety, lower costs and lower environmental impact in all offshore tasks.
Central to FGRL’s simulation initiative is DeepWorks. The DeepWorks platform is a base product with a suite of libraries for the simulation of all aspects of underwater systems based on a fully force-modelled approach.
DeepSim is the library providing the sophisticated dynamic, realtime simulation engine. This models the true hydrodynamic responses of offshore assets when acted upon by environmental conditions. The DeepSim library provides drag and drop cables, risers, vessels, bodies and joints. This physics-based toolkit means fewer surprises offshore, keeping operations safe and saving money.
DeepLive is FGRL’s realtime monitoring library that allows one to monitor topside and subsea assets during complex offshore missions as they happen. DeepLive takes input from live systems and accepts
FGRL’s core product is the DeepWorks platform, which provides visualisation, simulation, training and live monitoring capabilities, depending on the libraries used.
NMEA standard inputs including GPS, Gyro and USBL data. DeepLive’s 3D world view enables offshore teams to react faster to operational challenges, giving a clear and accurate picture of what is really happening subsea. Uniquely, by combining the DeepSim and DeepLive libraries, teams can combine live data, such as vessel location, with simulated data, such as pipeline location during a pipe-lay. This provides a powerful touchdown prediction capability. The first customer for DeepLive 2.0 was DeepOcean for its new inspection, maintenance and repair vessel, the Edda Fauna, which was specially built for DeepOcean’s Statoil contract.
The DeepTouch library offers the next generation of integrated ROV pilot mission simulators. Full hydraulic and electrical circuit modelling combined with a suite of actuators and manipulators means that any ROV and tool can be created. This provides both a training and an engineering platform.
DeepWorks’ advanced user interface makes it simple to operate in the office or the field, using drag and drop technology to build up models quickly and easily. With automatic data collection, display and saving,
© TOUCH BRIEFINGS 2010
Subsea & Pipelines
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