OTC 23512

Autonomous Inspection of Subsea Facilities-Gulf of Mexico Trials

D. McLeod, J. R. Jacobson, S. Tangirala, Lockheed Martin, MS2

Copyright 2012, Offshore Technology Conference

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Offshore Technology Conference held in Houston, Texas, USA, 30 April–3 May 2012.

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Abstract
Lockheed Martin Corporation is conducting a multi-year technology development program to advance the state of the art of
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) inspection technologies for the offshore oil & gas industry. The scope of this
project is to develop and demonstrate AUV technologies for conducting autonomous structural survey and inspection of
subsea facilities for a wide range of applications, including pre/post-hurricane inspection of offshore platforms, pre/post-
decommissioning structural survey, and deepwater facility / riser inspection. This paper will describe the results of Lockheed
Martin’s recently completed technology demonstration project, Autonomous Inspection of Subsea Facilities, including
laboratory simulation, local offshore trials, and technology validation trials in the Gulf of Mexico against offshore production
platforms. This project was jointly funded by the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America (RPSEA), Lockheed
Martin and sea trials were supported by Chevron Energy Technology Company Capabilities demonstrated during offshore
trials included (1) autonomous real-time three-dimensional (3D) imaging and modeling of an underwater facility, (2)
detection and highlighting of changes to the facility in real time, and (3) feature-based navigation, the aiding of the AUV’s
navigation along its path based on feature detection and recognition. The paper will describe the results achieved, and will
highlight the performance improvements over current platform inspection methods, including significant improvements in
operating efficiencies, and the development of highly accurate 3D models for use in structural integrity management. Finally,
the paper will outline the potential benefits of evolving AUV and sensor technologies for applications such as structural
survey, pipeline inspection, subsea facility inspection, and light intervention, including potentially game changing
improvements in cost, performance, safety and reliability that will enable more cost-effective operations in deepwater and/or
remote subsea fields.
Introduction
Subsea Integrity Management is defined by the Energy Institute Guidelines for the Management of Integrity of Subsea
Facilities as “the management of a subsea system or asset to ensure that it delivers the design requirements, and does not
harm life, health or the environment, through the required life.” A key element in any integrity management program is
regular in-service inspections. As the industry moves into deeper and harsher environments, challenges faced by operators
include the high cost of subsea inspection and the limited inspection intervals available. Inspections provide a snapshot of the
structural health of the system. Integrity management practices in deepwater fields rely heavily on general visual inspection
of subsea equipment. Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and divers are the primary means used today to conduct
inspections - ROVs exclusively in deepwater (greater than 100-meter water depth) and divers generally limited to less
than100-meter water depth. In both cases support vessels larger than 70 to 100 meters with support crews numbering more
than 30 and with 100+ tons of equipment are required to collect the simplest visual inspection record. The quality and
usefulness of the records are highly dependent on the seawater’s visual clarity, illumination, camera and recording
equipment, and ROV or diver stability. An ROV inspection of a deepwater facility can provide visual evidence of structural
degradation, impact damage, corrosion, valve damage, leaks, vibration, and other structural damage (Figure 1).
Benchmarking the condition of subsea equipment following installation and tracking its status over time can provide a history
of the deterioration rate1. Video inspections include: well heads, valve positions, pipeline end terminations (PLETs), pipeline
end manifolds (PLEMs), underwater termination manifolds (UTMs), flowlines, jumpers, moorings, risers, and associated
cabling and equipment on the sea bed. This equipment is often spread over many square kilometers requiring the support
vessel to maneuver in DP mode for days. Inspection speed is totally dependent on the coordinated movement of the ROV
and support vessel and the skill of the ROV pilot.
1
Effective Implementation of Subsea Integrity Management Himanshu Maheshwari, 2H Offshore Inc.
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Figure 1. Damaged Vertical Diagonal

The lack of registration of visual data to a specific x-y-z position on the asset being inspected often limits any usefulness in
comparison to future inspection results. Due to recent catastrophic failures, increases in the frequency of mooring
inspections may be required. Conventional video recordings do not lend themselves to geo-registration on a pixel or frame
basis, making comparisons between past and current states difficult, if not impossible. Once collected, this data is often
stored on hard drives in file sizes that exceed multiple terabytes. Cataloging the files is a demanding task and review of the
recorded video requires a dedicated individual to view the images and discriminate changes or areas of concern. With or
without baseline documentation the review is tedious, time consuming and the data files are often misplaced or lost.

Autonomous underwater vehicles are smaller than ROVs, require less deck space, have fewer operators and, being physically
untethered, are free from the precise positioning required by the support vessel. Advances in autonomy coupled with unique
mission sensors and processing greatly reduce the human interaction required when collecting images of offshore oil and gas
underwater infrastructure. These factors dramatically reduce the operational cost of a deepwater inspection. This paper
presents the results of a recent field demonstration of the impact of an AUV on the inspection of subsea equipment and
explores the roles that an AUV with appropriate sensors and autonomy can fulfill to bring new value to subsea field
managers.

Discussion

Inspections using Autonomous Underwater Vehicles.

Autonomous inspection of subsea facilities is a game-changing capability that can dramatically improve the operating
company’s bottom line by reducing inspection costs through use of smaller vessels, fewer personnel at sea, and more efficient
operations (refer to Table 1). Lower operating costs will enable operators to increase the interval between inspections,
thereby improving integrity assessment of subsea assets and reducing the risk of asset failure. AUVs equipped with
appropriate sensors and robust autonomy can offer huge benefits when compared to an ROV operation. Unhindered by a
surface vessel with attached umbilical and 100+ tons of shipboard equipment the AUV can be employed across vast areas
and remain submerged for multiple shifts dependent on the mission profile energy demands and the AUVs energy storage
capacity. Operators on the surface are in a monitoring mode only.

In addition to these benefits, the geo-tagging of each inspection Volume Element, or voxel, coupled with precise feature-
based navigation, allows automated change detection against the benchmark condition, an enormous time saver compared to
the laborious visual examination currently required by inspection engineers. By using advanced autonomy, true 3-D sonar or
underwater 3-D laser imaging sensors, inspections are no longer limited by water turbidity or motion of the sensing platform.
Real time change detection has been demonstrated by Lockheed Martin’s MarlinTM AUV during offshore trials in Florida.
This highly advanced feature, coupled with autonomous adaptive route planning, enables the AUV to revisit areas where
changes have been detected and collect targeted high definition video and / or high resolution sonar images at a much closer
range. All of these records are tagged with precise position information for every voxel. Inspection data collected in this
manner also enables the generation of true 3-D models that can be used to develop an accurate baseline for engineering
calculations and precise integrity monitoring. Current Marlin inspection capabilities include:
 Structural survey of fixed platforms:
 Post-hurricane inspections that provide rapid assessment of storm damage severity2
 In-service inspection operations that use automatic change detection to assess platforms with previous baseline
inspections
 Pre-decommissioning surveys that provide accurate 3-D models for planning purposes
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Table 1. Deepwater IRM ROV vs. AUV Host Impact

IRM ROV and Vessel AUV and Vessel

240 ft Length Overall 120 ft Length Overall
Typical Vessel Spec
DPII Utility class
System Deck Footprint ~ 1,000 ft2+ ~ 500 ft2
System Weight ~ 80 tons ~ 10 tons
Vessel Crew Size 20-40 6-8
Inspection Rate X 4X faster
Vessel Day Rate $3X $X

Operating within an active field poses new challenges. The AUV is required to operate in close proximity to subsea
equipment and precise positioning is essential to prevent collisions with the equipment. Lockheed Martin has embarked on a
program that has significantly advanced the capability for an AUV to work in such a restricted space. Using our MarlinTM
AUV coupled with advanced autonomy developed throughout the corporation and advanced sensors, the Marlin vehicle will
be able to perform deepwater inspection tasks reliably and safely with fewer operators from a smaller vessel. Lockheed
Martin’s technology was recently demonstrated in the oil and gas fields offshore Louisiana. These trials demonstrated the
first increment in our advanced autonomy focused on post hurricane inspection of a fixed platform.

Marlin Post Hurricane Inspection Trials.

AUV inspection of a fixed platform after a major hurricane presents an opportunity for major time and cost savings for oil
and gas operating companies. Our 2011 trials focused on demonstrating the capability to image a platform for which no a
priori information is available to create a baseline image against which 3D models generated from subsequent inspections
may be compared.

Figure 2. Marlin System mobilized in three lifts

The Marlin AUV system (Figure 2) consists of an operations and maintenance (O&M) van, launch and recovery system, and
shipboard cradle assembly. All of the assemblies are configured with 20-inch ISO modular fittings. The O&M van, launch and
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recovery crane, and the shipboard cradle assembly are each configured with standard 20-inch ISO fittings, simplifying
shipping and shipboard mounting. Mobilization is straightforward, and the entire system can be installed in three lifts.
This simple and efficient configuration is operated and maintained by three people: the vehicle operator, crane operator, and
deck hand. Marlin’s patented autonomous underwater homing capture and lift provides a robust and simple approach to
vehicle recovery, unlike the unsafe and weather dependent surface recovery methods used by most autonomous vehicles.
Once on station the Marlin vehicle is launched and during its first mission around a platform builds a 3D model of the subsea
structure constructed from 3D sonar data. This 3D constructed model becomes the baseline from which future change
detection missions are run and for feature based navigation and may also be used for decommissioning planning, mensuration
and feature extraction.

Upon mission completion the vehicle autonomously returns to a predetermined point awaiting acoustic command to
rendezvous with the ship. The operators initiate an auto homing sequence that results in the vehicle homing to a transponder
on the lift line where it automatically latches to the lift line and indicates that it is ready for recovery followed by the crane
operator simply lifting the vehicle from the water (Figure 3). Once inboard, the vehicle is stowed in its shipboard cradle and
readied for the next mission.

Figure 3. Marlin Vehicle Recovered to L&R Crane by simply lifting from the water.

3D model building on the Marlin takes on two forms. The first involves constructing a baseline 3D model of the subsea
structure from 3D sonar data collected on a data gathering mission. This mission is only required to be run once for
structures for which no prior 3D model exists. The collected data is post processed upon vehicle recovery to generate a
baseline 3D model in a matter of hours. Future developments will allow the autonomous construction of this baseline model.
The second form of 3D model building occurs during an inspection mission where a 3D model is constructed autonomously
during the mission and is compared autonomously to the baseline 3D model for change detection. Subsequent missions will
use the 3D model from the previous inspection mission as the baseline, thereby creating a time-phased 3D model record of
the subsea structure. The primary difference between the two model building processes is the availability of high accuracy
navigation information during the mission. Typical AUV inertial navigation systems provide adequate positioning accuracy
for surveys; but much higher accuracy in positioning is required for the construction of accurate 3D models and autonomous
change detection relative to a baseline model. For the construction of the baseline 3D model, high accuracy navigation
information is not available during the mission but is available during post processing. High accuracy (approximately 5 cm)
in positioning for the inspection mission is achieved through feature based navigation where 3D Sonar point clouds are
aligned to the baseline model and the position of the Marlin corresponding to these alignments is computed. The constructed
3D models are then tagged with this precise position information for every voxel. Figure 4 and Figure 5 show 3D models of
two platforms in the Gulf of Mexico constructed from 3D Sonar data following a 26-minute inspection mission and a 41-
minute inspection mission, respectively. These 3D models can be used to develop an accurate baseline for engineering
mensuration (Figure 6) and precise integrity monitoring (Figure 7) spanning over days or years.

Real time change detection has also been demonstrated on these two fixed structures. This highly advanced feature, coupled
with autonomous route planning, enables the AUV to revisit areas where changes have been detected and collect high
definition video and / or high resolution sonar images at a much closer range. Since the baseline 3D models and the
inspection 3D models were constructed on the same day, there were no changes to the structure. In order to demonstrate
autonomous change detection and localization, changes representative of typical post hurricane damage were introduced into
the baseline model for the inspection missions. These changes were then autonomously detected and localized as seen in
Figure 8.
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Figure 4. 3D Model of fixed 8 leg platform in 18m water depth; Constructed during 26 minute inspection.
 

Figure 5. 3D Model of fixed 4 leg platform in 40m water depth; Constructed during 41 minute inspection.
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Figure 6. 3D Rendered model used for planning and mensuration.

Figure 7. 3D Rendered model used for inspection and feature extraction

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Figure 8. Changes highlighted in real time indicating damage to structure.

Summary
The Marlin Offshore Platform Inspection System has completed its sea trials and demonstrated advances in autonomy that
enable a game changing inspection capability for oil and gas operating companies. Lockheed Martin has proven that the
system is capable of quickly, accurately and safely completing a structural survey of an offshore platform with minimal
operator interaction and oversight revolutionizing shallow water inspections. The 3D models generated in situ offer field
operators with unprecedented utility to accurately monitor the integrity of their subsea facilities with lower costs, fewer
people at sea and greatly reduced risk. Future plans include implementing these capabilities into a Marlin MK 3 vehicle
capable of operating in the deepwater oil fields of the world offering advanced homing and docking and a unique set of
sensors to conduct inspections of moorings, risers, flowlines, and associated deepwater facilities. Future Marlin inspection
capabilities will include:
 Level II platform inspection
 Inspection of risers, mooring lines, touchdown points, and strakes
 Pipeline inspection including position, crossover, scouring, and corrosion potential
 Wellhead, PLET, PLEM, flowline, and UTA inspection, leak detection, thermal and debris survey

Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America for partial funding along with the member
operating companies and Chevron Energy Technology Company for their contributions in bringing this new capability to the
offshore oil and gas industry.