A Trieste i test di Flatfish, drone subacqueo progettato da Saipem
(Adnkronos) - A Trieste sono in corso i test di collaudo delle nuove funzionalità di Flatfish, il drone subacqueo per ispezioni avanzate ideato e industrializzato da Saipem, società leader mondiale nelle attività di ingegneria, di perforazione e di realizzazione di grandi progetti nei settori dell'energia e delle infrastrutture. Saipem attraverso Sonsub, il suo centro di eccellenza per le tecnologie subacquee, ha messo a punto il programma Hydrone con l’obiettivo di industrializzare una flotta di tre diversi modelli di droni sottomarini, ciascuno con proprie diverse funzionalità. Il centro Sonsub di Trieste è una vera e propria palestra per i sistemi robotici Saipem, che consente di collaudare l’affidabilità necessaria per operare in mare aperto.
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00:00I am in the process of testing the new features of Flatfish, the underwater drone devised and industrialized by Saipem, the world's leading company in engineering activities, which has developed the iDrone program, a fleet of three different models of underwater drones, each with its own functionalities and able to operate in complete autonomy thanks to artificial intelligence.
00:27These days we are concluding a technological development program, a second act in reality, related to one of our drones called Flatfish. In this basis, thanks also to the availability of the bench that we see here in front of us, we are able to put our robotic systems in the water, drones specifically, and prepare them before mobilizing them in a project in the Persian Gulf.
00:55In concrete terms, it is an underwater drone capable of working even for 12 consecutive months at a maximum depth of 3,000 meters. Just recently, iDrone Air, which is currently operating in Equinor, Norway, reached an extraordinary world record of underwater residence of 167 consecutive days.
01:15The peculiarity is its ability, similar to what happens with aerial drones, to move in the water without a guide line. This is evidently one of the greatest technological challenges, because to move, to be able to have a perception of space, of objects, without a physical connection with a control station on land or on a ship, is decisively complex.
01:43A technological challenge solved by Saipem through the use of advanced vision systems that combine laser, high-resolution cameras and sonar, elements that guarantee precise accuracy and a very faithful orientation.
01:56Waiting for the Persian Gulf for the trace of a new pipeline, the underwater drone, or Flatfish, already has inspection projects in Brazil and Norway. However, Saipem has already a second version in the works.
02:08The other models of drones designed by Saipem that are part of the iDrone program are iDrone Air, with both inspection and maintenance functions, and iDrone V, entirely electric and intended for heavy maneuvering activities.
02:20Both are large as a utility. All operations carried out by the Saipem drones are carried out in wireless mode and all are able to operate at sea continuously up to 12 months, alternating 12 hours of work and 12 hours of recharge thanks to docking stations placed on the bottom.
02:37The need to stay in this industry, to continue to innovate. It is not possible to stop because then the competition manages to fill the distances and therefore we always try to be in the front row, anticipating the needs of the future and making available to our customers absolutely first-rate and unmatched technology.
03:01These drones can be used in the monitoring activities of marine biodiversity, in the surveillance plans of ports and critical infrastructures associated with, for example, re-gasifiers and gas stoves, in the development of environmental monitoring campaigns, in the maintenance of archaeological sites in deep waters and in the routine mapping activities of the foundations.
03:21The use of drones makes all these operations more sustainable and reduces the risks for human and environmental personnel.