Traditionally, new ROV pilots have undergone basic training offshore and on the job. The downside of this was that more experienced pilots still needed to fly critical operations, resulting in precious "stick time" being restricted for trainees. Pilots on contracts often move from one contractor to another, which necessitates refresher sessions or extra training to become skilled in different ROV control interfaces.

Optimizing productive ROV work schedules is vital to competitiveness, with training carried out onshore whenever practicable. Key to making this possible has been the development of sophisticated simulators.

Realistic simulation

The DeepWorks ROV pilot training simulator provided by the Fugro Subsea Services Ltd. Robotic Technologies division uses realistic simulation to mimic the hydrodynamic response, collision behavior, and physical vehicle characteristics of different types of ROVs. It also exposes the underlying hydraulic and electrical circuits so that different ROV types and tooling solutions can be realistically simulated and fine-tuned.

In this simulation an FCV3000 ROV monitors the subsea deployment of a concrete mattress over a pipeline. (Image courtesy of Fugro Subsea Services Ltd.)

The simulator brings full force-modeled physics simulation to subsea scenarios so ROVs and other movable subsea assets respond realistically to operator demands, environmental forces, and friction. "Touch and feel" interactivity gives pilots the same graduated tactile response as when actually navigating an ROV or deploying a tool such as a hydraulically activated nondestructive testing measurement tool during a subsea inspection.

Rehearsing operations across a wide range of conditions helps validate procedures and define the safe operating envelope for successful inspection, maintenance, and repair operations. Being able to rehearse specific tasks easily and repeatedly allows pilots to hone their skills quickly, and it allows ROV supervisors to assess the job skill level required and to grade pilots for specific operations based on an objective assessment of their performance.

For planning purposes, running DeepWorks Engineer on a desktop PC provides a sophisticated dynamic simulation engine that models the true hydrodynamic responses of offshore equipment when acted upon by environmental conditions. Engineers can drag and drop components from extensive libraries to build subsea scenarios containing items like vessels, pipes, cables, and ROVs.

The real-time module allows live monitoring of the topside and subsea operations with equal transparency provided for offshore navigators, surveyors, and deck teams. Shared visualization of field operations as they take place improve work coordination.

Rehearsing complex remote subsea intervention tasks with an ROV is being stipulated increasingly by oil companies before a new or challenging subsea operation. (Image courtesy of Fugro Subsea Services Ltd.)

DeepWorks Engineer Live takes input from real-time systems including Fugro Starfix and NMEA Standard inputs such as GPS, Gyro, and USBL data. A live 3-D world view enables both management and offshore teams to react more quickly to operational developments, giving a clear and accurate picture of what is happening subsea. Teams can combine live data, such as vessel location, with simulated data, such as pipeline location, during a pipelay operation.

The underlying circuits are fully modeled for training in fault detection and repair. Training supervisors can "break" individual circuits or components to test how well pilots understand the equipment. The supervisor can develop and repeat a problem scenario to test whether the trainee responds correctly. The whole dataset and 3-D world is recorded and can be rewound to any point for review and detailed behavior response analysis.

Simulation and control technologies now give subsea operators an unprecedented insight and ability to intervene directly in the design, development, deployment, operation, and maintenance of subsea and seabed equipment, minimizing risk and speeding up production.

Integrated vessel, crane, and ROV pilot training

In 2011, FSSL Robotics Technologies supplied Simsea AS, the Norwegian marine simulator center in Haugesund, with a DeepWorks ROV simulator. DeepWorks was integrated to run synchronously with a Kongsberg Offshore Vessel Simulator to provide a seamless operations training platform for the launch, recovery, and operation of ROVs. The control interface allowed the two systems to share dynamic information to ensure they remained in step during training missions and review.

For example, a trainee crane operator can drive the Kongsberg crane simulator to put the ROV over the side of the vessel, paying out umbilical cable from the winch. The umbilical payout is passed to DeepWorks ROV, which simulates lowering the tether management system (TMS) to the right depth to perform the mission. The ROV pilot then undocks from the TMS, pays out tether, and flies his vehicle to carry out the mission, all the time staying in constant communication with the crane operator and vessel supervisor. Since the systems are dynamically linked, if the crane operator makes a mistake or bad assumption and winches in the ROV umbilical unexpectedly, the pilot sees his ROV pulled in response.

"So much of getting a good result offshore is not just about an individual performing his task properly; a crane operator might operate his crane excellently, but he has to be able to communicate effectively with the skipper of the vessel, the ROV pilot, and anyone else involved," said Jason Tisdall, manager, Robotic Technologies.

In the crane simulator, the operator can see the vessel and the sea moving. In the next room, the ROV pilots have a display of what is going on as the vessel is lowered into the water.

A Kongsberg Offshore Vessel Simulator integrated with the DeepWorks ROV Simulator provides a seamless training platform for ROV launch, recovery, and operation. (Image courtesy of Kongsberg Maritime)

Improving communication and giving pilots and crane operators access to the same positional information in real time allows highly complex real-world training scenarios to be practiced in safety, measured, and replayed.

"More and more oil companies are stipulating that a dry run must be carried out in the simulator before a new or challenging operation," said A Rune Johansen, managing director, SimSea AS. "This reduces risk and is more cost-effective than learning by failure in the field. It is very expensive if you have to do things twice."

One important benefit of an ROV simulator, he added, is that it gives competitive advantage to offshore operators by allowing them to train staff and practice difficult maneuvers, particularly those involving difficult access or working in confined spaces, without risk of damage to either the ROV or expensive subsea infrastructure. It also provides a safe environment for validating and improving cross-team procedures for subsea survey, inspection, maintenance, or repair.

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