Explorer DVL for Renewable Energy Project
Teledyne RD Instruments, USA, recently supplied an Explorer Doppler velocity log (DVL) to Oregon State University’s School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering for a renewable energy project in partnership with the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center.
Designed to provide navigation aboard small underwater platforms, the Explorer DVL will be integrated on a Teledyne SeaBotix ROV for a project that aims to minimise downtime during AUV deployments.
Decrease Maintenance and Intervention Time
According to the project’s co-principal investigator and assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Oregon State University Geoff Hollinger, Ph.D., Teledyne RDI’s Explorer DVL is a key component of the navigation system used on the SeaBotix vLBV300 during operation in offshore marine renewable energy arrays. The goal of the project is to decrease maintenance and intervention time in marine renewable energy arrays opposed to using teleoperated ROVs. Specifically, researchers will focus on reducing deployment, operator, and shipboard operations times by 30%.
Belinda Batten, PhD, director of the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center, said that finding ways to reduce the cost of operations and maintenance for marine energy arrays will contribute to a lower overall cost of energy for this new technology sector.