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VideoRay

Insights Newsletter April 2022

Greetings! 

This month’s BIG news is the release of the VideoRay VersaRay ROV, which made its first public appearance at Oceanology International and was presented during last month’s virtual VideoRay Insights Presentation Series.  If you haven’t seen it yet, scroll down to this month’s Picture of the Month and view the presentation [here].

Designed to be the most powerful, configurable, and lightweight vehicle ever in its class, the VersaRay is sure set new standards of performance in a wide range of jobsites and applications.  Combined with the recently released Expeditionary Product Line and power options, VideoRay ROV’s can tackle almost any project in almost any environment, including your most critical missions.  Come talk to us about your next VideoRay. 

As always, please share your comments, recommendations, and requests to: insights@videoray.com 

VideoRay is Hiring!

What could be cooler than operating a VersaRay?  Building, testing and supporting them!  VideoRay is hiring a Production Technician and Technical Support Analyst.  See our Career page (https://videoray.com/about-us/careers/) for more information and to apply. 

Virtual VideoRay Insights Presentation Series

April 21, 2022

Tips for Conducting Deep Dives

10:00 – 10:30am EDT

Panel Discussion

Hear the voices of experience discuss strategies, tactics and techniques that have proven successful while conducting deep dives.  Sometimes planned, sometimes discovered by accident, and sometimes attempted out of sheer desperation, this discussion includes the best of the best ideas and some of the failed attempts that are too embarrassing to admit being a part of and how bad it really was. 

Pipeline Leak Investigation in Challenging Conditions

10:30-11:00am EDT

Presented by Tom Glebas, VideoRay

Pipeline Leak Investigation in Challenging Conditions 

10:30 – 11:00am EDT

Presented by Tom Glebas, VideoRay

Ride along on this mission to investigate a pipeline leak at 190 feet to assess the damage and evaluate repair options in high tidal currents and extremely low visibility. 

Future Insights Events - Third Thursday of every month

May 19, 2022

  • Mastering Autonomous Control – Using Jog Commands and Waypoints

June 16, 2022

  • Optimizing Your Sonar Image Quality

July 21, 2022

  • Mission Specialist Maintenance
 
Presentations may be added to the above dates and beyond – check the schedule for updates [here].

Greensea Autos, Dynamic Positioning and Mission Locks

Greensea has several autonomous control tools that seem to overlap, and new users can find this confusing.  Let’s try to untangle differences. 

Auto Assist Tools (Auto Heading, Depth, Altitude, Pitch and Roll) can be independently selected or used in combination (except Depth and Altitude, which must be one or the other).  When enabled, these stabilize the vehicle in that degree of freedom.  This stabilization can be overridden manually using the hand controller or modified by waypoint definitions and mission Locks. 

Dynamic Positioning simply does everything it can do to maintain the vehicle’s horizontal location, and nothing more.  If Auto Heading is not enabled while Dynamic Positioning is enabled, yaw is uncontrolled and influenced by currents or the tether unless manually controlled.  Likewise, if Auto Depth is not enabled, the vehicle’s vertical state will be determined by its buoyancy unless manually controlled. 

Mission Locks (Heading, Depth (or Altitude) and Speed) are associated with the vehicle’s behavior during a mission.  Before explaining locks, let’s first review a waypoint definition.  Three of the parameters that can be defined for a waypoint are its Heading, Depth (or Altitude) and Speed, which are used to control how the vehicle approaches that waypoint.  Each waypoint can have its own settings (defaults can be defined).  During a mission these Locks can be individually locked so the vehicle adheres to the corresponding definition, or unlocked, in which case the behavior is controlled manually, or by the corresponding Auto Assist Tool if it is enabled.  It is important to realize that if an Auto Assist Tool is not enabled, the lock itself cannot control that parameter.  For example, if Auto Depth is not enabled, locking the Depth Lock will not force the vehicle to achieve the waypoint’s defined depth.  You can think of this as layers – if the first layer (Autos) is not enabled, the second layer (Locks) cannot have an impact.  One final point about Mission Locks is that if they are locked, associated input will unlock the.  Examples:  If Heading Lock is enabled and the operator yaws the vehicle manually, the Heading Lock will unlock.  The same goes for the Depth Lock and Speed Lock – manual changes to the depth or Turtle/Rabbit speed slider will unlock the respective lock. 

In Summary: 

  • Autos maintain control of a degree of freedom but can be overridden. 
  • Dynamic Positioning only maintains location.  For example, if you want heading and depth maintained as well, the Auto Heading and Auto Depth must be enabled. 
  • Mission Locks can only control their respective parameters if the corresponding Auto is enabled.  Enabling Auto modes at the start of the dive and keeping them enabled is generally a good practice. 

 

If you have any questions about Greensea autonomous features and capabilities, send them to: support@videoray.com 

Operator Tip of the Month – Lessons from the field

It can be hard to turn around to head back upstream when you are weathervaning at the end of your tether in a strong current.  The secret is to “Go with the Flow… 

Technician Tip of the Month – Lessons from the shop

Personalize your recording with audio annotation and video overlay of your company logo or other image.

FAQ of the Month – Be “in the know”

Q:  What is the maximum tether length for Mission Specialist ROVs? 

A: It depends

  • PPT = 450m
  • Thin Copper = 600m (Onboard Batteries)
  • Hybrid Fiber = 1. 2 km (Hybrid = Copper + Fiber, * limited by power delivery)
  • Fiber = > 2km (Onboard Batteries, * limited by battery life vs transit time)

Survey Question of the Month – Be counted

Product of the Month – Be informed

Introducing the VideoRay VersaRay!

VideoRay VersaRay

Quote of the Month – Be amused

Never go full rabbit!” 

– Someone from Greensea talking about the mission speed control slider

Photo of the Month – Be inspired

Observing a Defender ROV during a training session in a test tank.

Observing a Defender during a training session in a test tank.
Photo by Tom Glebas, VideoRay

Email us a caption for this photo or your own VideoRay related photo – for a chance to win a VideoRay T-shirt!*  

Last month’s photo caption winner

“No thanks. I’m stuffed.” – John Nelson

Tahzay Jones’ of the National Park Service and his Pro 5 have a close encounter with a bear.
Photo by Tom Glebas, VideoRay
 

VideoRay Training

In-person classes are being offered in Key Largo, FL and at VideoRay’s San Diego, CA office.

On-site classes are also available.

Live virtual classes are now being offered…  anywhere you want.

Self-paced virtual training lessons can be found in VideoRay’s Training Library any time you want.

Email training@videoray.com or call 610-458-3000 and ask to speak to the Training Administrator for more information about              in-person classes.

Upcoming Classes

  • Pro 4 Basic Operator, Key Largo, FL, April 12 – 14, 2022
  • Mission Specialist, San Diego, CA, April 25 – 28, 2022
  • Pro 5 Basic Operator, Key Largo, FL, March 17 – 19, 2022
  • Pro 4 Basic Operator, San Diego, CA, March 23 – 25, 2022
  • Pro 4 Advanced Maintenance, Pottstown, PA, June 9 – 10, 2022
  • Tether Termination, Pottstown, PA, June 13, 2022
  • Mission Specialist Advanced Maintenance, Pottstown, PA, June 14-16, 2022

 

See more class dates and register online 

Meet VideoRay at these Upcoming Events

  • Oceanology International – If you were there, thanks for visiting.
  • CBSOA (California Boating Safety Officers Association), April 11-13, 2022, South Lake Tahoe Resort, CA
  • IPF (International Offshore Wind Partnering Forum), April 26-28, 2022, Atlantic City, NJ Booth 1130
  • OTC (Offshore Technology Conference), May 2-5, 2022, Houston, TX, Booth 2347
  • HYDROVISION International, July 12-14, 2022, Denver, CO Booth 1040

Dealer Spotlight

STERLING COMMS lNT’L PTE LTD

With our strong background in systems design and engineering experiences, we have full capabilities in offering complete customized solutions to meet our customers’ diverse needs. These include Design, Installation, Testing, Commissioning, Project Management and Documentation.  Maintenance support and managed services are also included as part of our services to our customers.

What this means to our VideoRay customers is, they get better and more timely local support, shorter turnaround time for any faulty equipment repairs resulting in higher equipment availability and lower maintenance cost.

* – Each month, one submission in each category will be selected and the submitter will receive a VideoRay T-shirt.  Please include your T-shirt size with your submission to expedite its delivery.  Use the respective links above to enter your submission.  VideoRay reserves the right to select its own submission.  Submitters agree that they have rights to the content they submit and to allow VideoRay unlimited rights to use and publish and their submission(s).