Securing Ports With Underwater Robots
Smaller units at lower cost puts VideoRay microROVs in more hands on deck and dock

(This article was published in the May / June 2004 issue of Ocean News and Technology Magazine.)

In the aftermath of September 11th, 2001, the job of preventing underwater terrorist attacks was added to the U. S. Coast Guard’s responsibilities. The USCG R&D center in Groton, Connecticut, arranged a demonstration of available underwater inspection, detection, and response technology. Held in Miami in November 2002, the event included the goal of selecting appropriate ROVs for the newly formed Marine Safety and Security Teams, which are being deployed throughout the United States.

VideoRay displays solutions to the Navy and Coast Guard – Miami, FL 11/20/02. Photo credit: Marcus Kolb

During this demonstration, the controls of an 8-pound VideoRay ROV were put in the hands of officers of the Coast Guard, who picked items from the floor of the harbor using the ROV’s manipulator.

The USCG was interested in the ability of an ROV to perform hull inspections of large vessels while working from small boats. Additional tests and demonstrations of VideoRay’s capabilities were conducted in April of 2003 on the USS Barry in Washington. An Imagenex 851 sonar was used to locate articles underwater, in combination with the Desert Star Aquamap Shiphull system, which inspected the hull of the USS Barry. Visibility in harbors is normally poor, making a good positioning capability critical to perform quality work. The system can use any computer scanned ship plan. It shows the ROV against starboard and port side views and a bottom view of the vessel. A variable width position trace is set to reflect the visibility. The software ‘paints’ the hull, documenting the coverage of the search, and any spot on the hull can be returned to quickly and with confidence.

From a smaller launch boat, Desert Star Divebase Level II positioning system was demonstrated, which supports chart overlays and export of tracking data to other computers or applications. The DiveBase software also supports the tracking of up to ten transponder-equipped targets. Rather than just tracking the ROV, transponders can also be mounted on divers, on the claw of a construction crane, or on specific underwater reference points.

(Top photo) USS Barry (shown right) is examined from inside the galley. Seated is Marco Flagg of Desert Star Systems. Photo credit Bill Martin.
		(To left) VideoRay demonstrates use with positioning software off a small launch. Photo credit Alex Kaplan.

After this demonstration, the USCG purchased four VideoRay systems for use on the initial four MSSTs, in Seattle, Washington (91101,) Chesapeake, VA (91102,) San Pedro, CA (91103), and Galveston, TX (91104). These systems were equipped with manipulators, onboard video screens, and the complete suite of Desert Star positioning systems including both Divebase Level II and Aquamap Shiphull. Installation of the initial systems was complete by the end of 2003.

In December 2003, the Seattle MSST added the new Tritech Sea Sprite sonar and upgraded to a more streamlined and powerful thruster configuration. In April of 2004, the MSST assisted VideoRay with testing of the new computer control features. On the cover, ET1 Martin Fairall sits on a SAFE boat and uses off-the-shelf wireless game controller and a head mounted display to watch the VideoRay and its underwater display simultaneously.

Seattle MSST VideoRay as currently equipped with Tritech Sonar and improved thrusters. Photo credit Steve Van Meter.

Proven in ports
Other ports that have put the VideoRay to work have seen benefits. The VideoRay has been in use at Security Administration Limited, the primary provider of port security in Port Bustamante, Jamaica, for more than a year to check ship hulls for drugs and contraband in the Kingston Harbor. The VideoRay has replaced divers in many instances – which makes the difference between life and death in Kingston Harbor. The VideoRay was purchased following the murder of three divers who inspected hulls of vessels as a part of the anti-narcotic procedure in the port.

	Port Bustamonte using VideoRay for Ship Hull Inspections – Jamaica, September 2003

Last September, the Taiwan Coast Guard purchased thirty VideoRay Pro II submersibles and four Lighted Auxiliary Zoom Inspection Camera (LAZIC) units. The LAZIC units add zoom cameras that can be positioned to inspect deep into recesses in hulls and piers and maneuvered into locations humans cannot reach. The VideoRays will reportedly be used for hull inspections and other underwater investigations to support Homeland Security initiatives. The systems purchased have a depth rating of 500 feet, 500 feet of tether, a Tether Deployment System portable reel, two video cameras, and other features for quickly and easily inspecting underwater threats and investigating potential smuggling operations. The systems will be used for drug interdiction and weapons searches throughout the coast of Taiwan.

		VideoRay passes lifting test with approximately 40 kilos of weight in air – Taiwan, May 2003. Photo credit Alex Kaplan.
Thirty VideoRays, shipped in two batches, reached Taiwan's Coast Guard to help in Homeland Security and investigate smuggling organizations on the water.

The Florida State University – Panama City Underwater Crime Scene Investigation (UCSI) Program used a VideoRay as part of the first water-based simulation to test Florida’s terrorism response systems. The VideoRay is part of “a new paradigm for scientific underwater investigations,” says Tom Kelley, who heads up the UCSI Program.

Joerg Hess, expert in remote sensing and underwater robotics for UCSI, exposed local, state, and federal officials to the VideoRay as a first response tool to aid in underwater terrorists attacks and crime scene investigations. The VideoRay was one of several video-equipped robots that accompanied divers, criminologists, scientists, and engineers who tested protocols and technology being developed for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

The new UCSI program also trains and educates local authorities on different methods used to look for evidence and search underwater areas and targets. “We are in the business of educating people and sharing with them the best technology that is affordable," said Kelley. “We needed a small system that is portable and cost effective – a tool that can fit within a sheriff department’s budget.”

To locate possible targets for investigation, Hess uses scanning sonar mounted on the VideoRay. The sonar can pick up the presence of a gun underwater, for example. The VideoRay is then launched to capture video footage of the area and retrieve the gun with its manipulator claw. When divers are sent in, the VideoRay acts as a third eye, giving staff on the shore a close look at underwater operations. The ROV also frees divers from carrying videography equipment.

“The video we get from the VideoRay is of as good or better quality than what we were able to get with more expensive ROVs,” says Hess. “The VideoRay proved itself as a serious piece of equipment.”

More agencies making the choice
Agencies are choosing the VideoRay because of its portability, price, ease of use, and because no divers are required in the water for operation. The submersible unit weighs about 4 kilograms, and the entire ROV system fits in two watertight cases that easily fit in the trunk of a car. The high-end VideoRay Pro III model includes two video cameras, an integrated control panel with video display, computer control capability including commercially available wireless game controllers, and several accessories. Currently available are several sonars, positioning systems, a radiation detector, external zoom camera, metal thickness gauge, and water quality sonde, with others under development.

State and local agencies have picked up on value of the VideoRay. Baltimore, Maryland authorities brought in Bob Christ, formerly of VideoRay, who located the boat roof from a water taxi that capsized in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor on March 6 this year. Christ sent the underwater robot into icy, dark waters after multiple dive teams had ended their efforts in disappointment. St. Louis County Undersheriff Dave Phillips, Deputy Sheriff Duane Nelson, and Rescue Squad members Lt. Tom Crossmon and Lt. Dirk VerSteeg operated a VideoRay this past winter to find the body of a snowmobile driver after divers efforts were thwarted by bad weather. Divers had previously made 19 difficult dives in shifting ice in an effort to locate the victim. A diver spent less than one minute in the 37-degree water recovering the body, just five hours after the search with the VideoRay began.

	Search tent with VideoRay on Lake Superior off Ashland, WI – February 2004. Photo credit: Tom Crossmon

In late May of this year, Undersherrif Philips and Lt. Crossmon traveled to New York City to train more than fifteen agencies in the Tri-State area on how to use the VideoRay for underwater missions. The training was part of the annual Bear Search & Rescue Foundation Interagency Marine Rescue event; Bear is the famous golden retriever who with his owner Captain Scott Shields worked at Ground Zero to help in the rescue efforts at the World Trade Center.

Focusing R&D
According to Scott Bentley, president and founder of VideoRay LLC, the company’s research and development group are working in five general areas to secure VideoRay’s position and the inspection ROV of choice for homeland security missions.

1. Computer control: The use of off-the-shelf game controllers and video display devices, as shown in the cover photo, allows the introduction of inexpensive and carefully designed ergonomic equipment to the VideoRay. Bentley explains that third parties can add-on and integrate their sensors and navigation equipment with the thrusters, navigation, and display capabilities from VideoRay.
   
2. Performance: More powerful thrusters, higher depth rated hulls, smaller diameter tether, and more hydrodynamic vehicle designs let VideoRays work in increasingly difficult conditions and reach previously unreachable destinations.
   
3. Usability and Reliability: “VideoRay leads the industry in both of these areas,” according to Bentley. “We are always working to raise the bar in usability and reliability – the things that really matter in the field.” The computer control with wireless controllers, for example, was developed as a result of a user request to be able to operate a VideoRay on the surface while walking along the side of a vessel or pier.
   
4. Cost: “The more capability that can be delivered at any price point, the more units can be purchased and used in the field for science, homeland security, or search and rescue – all areas that benefit all of us,” says Bentley. “We will keep innovating ways to drop the price while boosting the performance of underwater submersible vehicles, as well to extend our range.” The new VideoRay Scout, model, at $5995, is within the range of many small first responder units, and is also inexpensive enough that entire fleets can be purchased to cover large geographic areas.
   
5. Sensors and Navigation: Bentley says many options are being explored to increase the range of information that the VideoRay can return, as well as pinpoint where the unit is and where targets are located.
   

Above all, the value of the VideoRay may be that it keeps human divers out of harm’s way. In these dangerous times, protecting innocent life with underwater robots is an innovation that makes a real difference.

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