Madrid, Spain-based Acciona is developing autonomous vehicles for underwater work as part of the SWARMs European R&D programme.
The autonomous vehicles will be able to undertake survey and repair operations on underwater structures such as offshore wind turbines without human intervention, the company claims. They will contribute to minimising the environmental impact of dredging operations and to early detection of high concentrations of pollutants. Initial trials have been conducted in the Canary Islands, Norway and Romania.
The aim of the SWARMs project is the development of unmanned underwater vehicles capable of performing complex tasks in underwater environments autonomously, without the need for human intervention, using artificial intelligence.
Acciona said the use of underwater autonomous vehicles will reduce the risks associated with construction and repair of offshore structures, work currently undertaken and monitored by divers.
“They can be used for repairs in ports, offshore platforms, offshore wind turbines, and also be used to measure and monitor levels of suspended material as a result of dredging operations and to measure the concentration of suspended solids in water,” Acciona said.
“The vehicles can work together in groups (or swarms, hence the project name), communicating via acoustic modems, dispensing with the need for cables or human controllers.”
The project budget is €17M (US$19M). It involves 30 companies, universities and technology institutes from 10 European countries.
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