Underwater vehicle
AssigneeCoflexip
InventorsAndrew M. Watt, Allen F. Leatt, Calum MacKinnon
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An underwater apparatus for performing subsurface operations adapted to be operated from a remote location above the surface of a body of water is disclosed. The apparatus includes a underwater vehicle that is made up of a tether management system connected to a detachable flying craft by a tether. The tether management system controls the amount of free tether between itself and the detachable flying craft. The detachable flying craft interfaces with various underwater structures. Also disclosed are methods of transferring power and/or data between two or more underwater devices using the underwater vehicle of the invention.
Claims17
A self-propelled submersible vehicle for connecting to and utilizing a subsurface power supply module, said submersible vehicle comprising:
- a body having an input port, said input port configured for connecting to said subsurface power supply module and for communicating at least one of power and data with said subsurface power supply module;
- a tether management system attached to said input port by a cable configured for communicating said at least one of power and data with said input port;
- and
- a work craft for performing an underwater operation, said craft being connected to a tether connected to said tether management system, said tether being configured for communicating said at least one of power and data with said work craft.
A method of performing an undersea operation, said method comprising the steps of:
- flying an unmanned self-propelled submersible vehicle to a subsurface location;
- in response to a control command, establishing at least one of a data and power connection to a subsurface module;
- and
- flying an underwater craft connected to said vehicle by a tether, said underwater craft performing said undersea operation remote from said subsurface location.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.