Loggerhead - An Uncrewed Submersible Mothership for Subsea Robotic Operations

长期以来，机器人一直被用于海上能源行业的海底检查和维护。在海上发射机器人具有挑战性-管理船舶运动，天气动力学和大型维护级机器人的显著重量需要大型船舶和复杂的起重设备。这些船只的相关成本和碳足迹限制了海底机器人的价值和环境效益，反过来影响了新兴海洋行业的发展。尽管小型无人水面舰艇（usv）已成为一种潜在的解决方案，但部署大型机器人并不可行。honuworx的Loggerhead项目将设计一种无人潜水母舰，用于部署和操作远程操作车辆，能够对海上资产进行检查和维护。该项目通过结合成熟的海底技术来降低风险，并将资源集中在部署先进的储能和先进的开发机器自主权上，为海底工作创建一个独特的颠覆性系统。“红海龟”方法优于载人和无人水面舰艇部署，因为：这是一个资本密集程度较低的体系。提供一个步骤变化，减少操作成本和排放。3 .通过消除飞溅区部署风险，支持全天候海底作业；该系统在航行期间保持在水下，以避免监管障碍。Loggerhead提供了一种经济上可行且可持续的方式来扩展水下机器人作业，以支持现有和新兴的蓝色经济部门。通过降低高达50%的海底作业成本并消除排放，Loggerhead支持海上可再生能源等重要部门的可持续增长，这些部门必须在没有补贴的情况下盈利，尽管利润率具有挑战性。该项目是扩大英国在能源转型和配套机器人技术发展方面的领导地位的一个机会。

Robots have long been utilised for subsea inspection and maintenance in the offshore energy industry. Launching robots at sea is challenging - managing vessel motion, weather dynamics and the significant weight of large maintenance class robots requires large vessels with complex lifting equipment.The associated cost and carbon footprint of these vessels limits the value and environmental benefits of subsea robotics, in-turn impacting the growth of emerging ocean sectors. Although smaller Uncrewed Surface Vessels (USVs) have emerged as a potential solution, deploying large robots from them is not feasibleHonuWorx's Loggerhead project shall yield a design for an uncrewed submersible mothership configured for the deployment and operation of Remote Operated Vehicles capable of performing inspection and maintenance on offshore assets.The project mitigates risk by combining proven subsea technologies and focuses resources on deploying advances in energy storage and advanced developing machine autonomy to create a unique and disruptive system for subsea work. The Loggerhead approach is superior to crewed and uncrewed surface vessel deployment because:1. It is a less capital intensive system,2. Offers a step change reduction in operations costs and emissions3. It supports all-weather subsea operations by eliminating splash-zone deployment risks, and4. The system stays subsea during navigation to avoid regulatory encumbrances.Loggerhead offers an economically viable and sustainable way to scale subsea robotic operations to support existing and emerging blue-economy sectors.By reducing the cost of subsea operations by up to 50% and removing emissions, Loggerhead supports the sustainable growth of vital sectors such as offshore renewable energy which must be profitable without subsidy and despite challenging margins. The project is an opportunity to extend the UK's leadership in the energy transition and the development of supporting robotic technologies.