ARV-i provides its customers with a range of operational configurations. As a resident vehicle, ARV-i will spend its time entirely underwater, for up to 12 months per deployment. The vehicle is designed to be autonomous, using prior programming and onboard intelligence to locate and observe underwater assets. When its battery is low, ARV-i will return to its proprietary docking station for wireless battery charging and transfer of data collected from the completed excursion.
A manual piloting mode is also available for ARV-i when human eyes are required for a closer look at certain assets. ARV-i can be remotely controlled from a paired control station anywhere in the world using wireless or fixed IP connections through 4G/Internet tether extension adapters.
The vehicle is designed to operate without a tether connection to the surface, but tethered options are available for customers who require superior video quality – a tethered solution is the best option to access the uncompressed 4K video stream or transmit data from ARV-I at higher rates.
At the 12-month service interval, the vehicle is exchanged with a replacement while the original is refurbished.
Applications for ARV-i abound in offshore industries that require underwater observation and inspection, including energy, oil and gas, wind farms and aquaculture.