Unmanned marine vessel for node deployment and retrieval
AssigneeION Geophysical Corporation
InventorTimothy A. Dudley
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Abstract
An unmanned seismic vessel system can include a hull system configured to provide buoyancy and a storage apparatus configured for storing one or more seismic nodes, each seismic node having at least one seismic sensor configured to acquire seismic data. A deployment system can be configured for deploying the seismic nodes from the storage apparatus to the water column, where the seismic data are responsive to a seismic wavefield, with a controller configured to operate the deployment system so that the seismic nodes are automatically deployed in a seismic array.
Claims21
An unmanned seismic vessel comprising:
- a hull system configured to provide buoyancy;
- a deployment system configured to deploy a seismic node to a water column, wherein the seismic node comprises a power supply, memory, a seismic sensor and a clock configured for acquiring and storing seismic data and associated timing data;
- and
- a controller configured to operate the deployment system to deploy the seismic node.
A method comprising:
- determining positional information for an unmanned seismic vessel;
- navigating the unmanned seismic vessel with respect to a water column, based on the positional information;
- deploying a seismic receiver from the unmanned seismic vessel to the water column, wherein the seismic receiver comprises a seismic sensor configured to acquire seismic data;
- and
- providing timing information to the seismic receiver, wherein the seismic receiver associates the seismic data with the timing information.
A seismic survey system comprising:
- a plurality of unmanned seismic vessels deployed in a water column, each unmanned seismic vessel comprising a hull system configured to provide buoyancy and a deployment system configured to deploy seismic nodes to the water column;
- and
- a plurality of the seismic nodes deployed from each unmanned seismic vessel, each of the seismic nodes comprising a seismic sensor configured to acquire seismic data responsive to a seismic wavefield propagating in the water column.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.