An ROV with no rov accessories can merely show you the surface. However, with useful accessories, you can light, measure, and reach. This article focuses on the most vital accessories for ROV-based inspections.
Why Accessories Define The Tool
ROVs have the ability to move and capture images, but perform little to no inspection-related tasks. Accessories fulfill that void.
Inspection work usually requires interpreting small details found on dark and/or fouled and/or shadowed surfaces. Accessories for ROVs are essential for tasks such as measuring defects and/or removal of growth to ascertain what’s under the growth.
Moreover, having a single-accessorized platform means that a survey of a hull in the morning can quickly be followed by a structural inspection in the afternoon. For a single-person operation, the savings in time from not having to switch vehicles are significant.
Most Important Accessories
Tasks related to inspection & survey work can be generally categorized as:
● Lighting
● Sizing/Measuring
● Manipulating
● Reaching
Most important is the added lighting. Underwater, colors and contrasts blend together, and the solution to this is more lighting. Other accessories, such as a laser scaler, allow you to take a visual measurement of something in the recording, and put a number to it. You can also have accessories that allow you to manipulate your environment (i.e. debris) and adhere to a surface. Extended tethers allow you to work the full extent in any particular direction that your job requires. All of these accessories combined make a significant impact on your job site.
From Look to Document
Really, how valuable is an inspection if nothing can be done with the record? These accessories make a record defensible.
Footage from a laser scaler and adequate lighting come together to make inspection footage that you can measure and time. This takes your reporting from noting an observed defect to an identifiable measurement. Well-lit and measured video answer the questions that the client has, meaning your work product was a professionally prepared report and not a ‘home movie.’
Practical Starter Kit
What you really need is a solid starting kit for all the inspection jobs you do regularly. Then you just need to buy specialized tools as needed for specific jobs.
A strong auxiliary light, a laser scaler, and a gripper comprise the Rov Base Kit. Also include:
● extra tether
● adequate case
● survey specific tether to adjust for your operating depths and distances
The Rov Base Kit is sufficient for normal hull surveys, structurals, and pre-purchase surveys. Samplers and metal detectors are job specific add-ons, and should not be included in the base kit. The tool kit should be organized and include a checklist so supplies do not need to be purchased at the last minute. Especially during a survey, having a tool that you cannot find is just as bad as not having it at all.
Build Your Kit Prioritize Tools Needed for Typical Jobs
The tool kit should be designed for anticipated jobs and not for the entire job catalog. To begin, consider what most routine jobs require. Lighting and scaler should be in the tool kit. From there a manipulator is required, and tether has to be added as required. The tool kit should allow your work to grow without limiting your work. Buy in the order tools are used, and avoid purchasing tools that will be unused in the tool kit. Review the last dozen job logs to determine which tools are prioritized, because the next tool purchase will be based on demand.
The Accessories Are The Investments
Accessories should be seen as the real investment. ROV systems are only as functional as the tools you add to them. The addition of the right lights, measurements, manipulators, and extenders can transform a camera into an inspection system.
Take a close look at the range of accessories we offer and see how you can build a kit based on the jobs that you take on. You will notice how client reports on rov underwater inspection focus directly on the findings that you have documented.
