The evolution of offshore survey technology for pipeline inspections

The offshore survey industry continues to develop and introduce new technologies. Significant advancements in a variety of technologies have led to the successful introduction of AUV's for a variety of surveying roles. However their impact on the “high end” pipeline inspection is not yet complete. Can AUV's become the standard acquisition platform for pipeline and other inspection surveys or are the challenges and obstacles that prevent the uptake and adoption of AUV technology simply too great? There are now component technologies that, when properly constructed, enable the use of AUV technology for many more survey and inspection related activities. This includes the collection, processing and management of the survey sensor data sets. AUV's are now capable of carrying such sensors as the latest high resolution multibeam sonars, synthetic aperture sonars, high definition cameras and acoustic doppler current profilers. With this array of available acoustic sensors we can expect AUV's to be used for an increasing number of pipeline inspection surveys and other hydrographic survey missions. This increased usage will likely require new data processing workflows and techniques, especially in consideration of the huge data volumes that will require processing once the vehicle returns to its parent ship and data is downloaded. This paper will explore these processing workflows and highlight the challenges and benefits with a view to addressing some key questions and promoting discussion on the future use of AUVs.