Home / Current Issue / Paper 1708993
Deployment of UAS for Deep Water Pipeline Inspection
Subject area: Science,Engineering and Technology · Area of research: Uncrewed Aerial Systems
Abstract
As equipment and technologies advance, it becomes necessary to evaluate the possibility of using tetherless unscrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs) as a replacement for deep-water pipeline inspection. The available methods for deep-water pipeline inspection, such as AUVs, ROVs, NDT, and ILI techniques, are expensive, provide limited access, and present risk to the environment and human life. The advantages of using Autonomous UUVs include their cost-effectiveness, safety, and reduced impact on the environment. The tetherless systems have the advantage of being more efficient and thorough in the assessment of the condition of a pipeline as they incorporate additional capabilities such as sonar, thermal vision, high-definition camera, and Artificial Intelligence Data analysis. Reviews and investigations of the use of UUVs in deep-sea environments and the social and legal issues that are associated with their use become more relevant. The integration of sensors, power sources, and regulatory requirements presents challenges to their adoption. However, the continuous improvement of tetherless subsea systems makes their use possible. This research concludes that UUVs are a feasible, future technology that has the capability of providing an improvement of pipeline integrity inspection and assurance at low operation cost and lower environmental impact than existing methods.
Keywords
Tetherless subsea systems; Uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs); Deep-water pipeline inspection; Autonomous inspection; Sonar systems; Pipeline integrity; Subsea infrastructure; Maritime robotics; Non-destructive testing; Offshore operations.
How to cite this paper
@article{1708993,
author = {Ayokunumi Ogunsina, Brenda K. Rambarran, Tony Anderson, Robert Hernandez},
title = {Deployment of UAS for Deep Water Pipeline Inspection},
journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
year = {2025},
volume = {8},
number = {12},
pages = {323-330},
issn = {2456-8880},
url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1708993.pdf},
abstract = {As equipment and technologies advance, it becomes necessary to evaluate the possibility of using tetherless unscrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs) as a replacement for deep-water pipeline inspection. The available methods for deep-water pipeline inspection, such as AUVs, ROVs, NDT, and ILI techniques, are expensive, provide limited access, and present risk to the environment and human life. The advantages of using Autonomous UUVs include their cost-effectiveness, safety, and reduced impact on the environment. The tetherless systems have the advantage of being more efficient and thorough in the assessment of the condition of a pipeline as they incorporate additional capabilities such as sonar, thermal vision, high-definition camera, and Artificial Intelligence Data analysis. Reviews and investigations of the use of UUVs in deep-sea environments and the social and legal issues that are associated with their use become more relevant. The integration of sensors, power sources, and regulatory requirements presents challenges to their adoption. However, the continuous improvement of tetherless subsea systems makes their use possible. This research concludes that UUVs are a feasible, future technology that has the capability of providing an improvement of pipeline integrity inspection and assurance at low operation cost and lower environmental impact than existing methods.},
keywords = {Tetherless subsea systems; Uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs); Deep-water pipeline inspection; Autonomous inspection; Sonar systems; Pipeline integrity; Subsea infrastructure; Maritime robotics; Non-destructive testing; Offshore operations.},
month = {June},
}