Systems for cleaning underwater structures

A system for removing fouling from underwater structures of a non-static vessel carried on a body of water, the system comprising:

• a vehicle operable to move through the water and clean the vessel, the vehicle having:
• a body housing a plurality of thrusters operable to move the vehicle freely in three dimensional space through the water, and operable to move the vehicle against and along the vessel to clean the vessel, the thrusters positioned about the body to rotate the body about a pitch axis, roll axis, and yaw axis, and translate the body in a forward, reverse, and sideways directions;
• a plurality of cleaning elements arranged at a top surface of the body, each cleaning element rotatable to clean the vessel;
• a plurality of cameras operable to record video footage, the cameras carried by the body so that at least one camera is arranged at an operatively front surface of the body, and at least one camera is arranged at the top surface of the body to record footage of the vessel being cleaned by the cleaning elements;
• and
• first and second lighting elements carried by the body and associated with the cameras, the first lighting elements arranged to illuminate in front of the body and the second lighting elements arranged to illuminate above the body;
• a tether connectable between the vehicle and a fixed position;
• a deployment mechanism securable relative to the vessel and configured to move the vehicle into, and out of, the water;
• and
• a processing unit configured to communicate with each of the vehicle and the deployment mechanism, and to analyze video footage recorded by the cameras to control navigating the vehicle, and the processing unit further configured to execute a repeating cleaning schedule, the cleaning schedule defining a cycle period,
• wherein responsive to the cycle period elapsing, the processing unit executes the schedule to:
• communicate with the deployment mechanism to cause the mechanism to operate to move the vehicle into the water;
• communicate with the vehicle to cause the vehicle to operate the thrusters to move the vehicle through the water to be spaced from the structure, and operate the cameras to record video footage;
• assess the video footage to determine geometry of the vessel, and, responsive to determining the geometry, determining a position of the vehicle relative to the vessel, and, based on the video footage recorded with the vehicle spaced from the structure and the determined geometry of the vessel, execute a mapping process to define cleaning paths to drive the vehicle along to clean the vessel;
• communicate with the vehicle to operate the thrusters to autonomously move the vehicle along the cleaning paths simultaneously with rotating the cleaning elements to clean at least a portion of the vessel, whereby the vehicle continuously monitors its position relative to the vessel, based at least partially on the video footage, and adjusts its position to optimize cleaning of the vessel;
• and
• communicate with the deployment mechanism to cause the mechanism to operate to remove the vehicle from the water.