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Swimming Video Camera Helps BATF Search Underwater Without Divers - March 15, 2001

New ROV Technology Looks for Items of Value to Investigation after President Bush’s Boat Burned

VideoRay LLC (Exton, PA) announced that its VideoRay ROV (remotely operated vehicle) was used as a new tool for searching an underwater area at the Yacht Harbor Marina in Austin, Texas, where a fire on December 16, 2000, damaged boats belonging to President George W. Bush and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Don Evans.

The search was conducted on Tuesday, February 27, 2001 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) Recovery Team to recover items of possible value to the investigation.

Sendingthe VideoRay ROV into the target area eliminated risks to divers, keeping them from entangling in cables and steel supports and preventing dive hazards such as hypothermia, drowning, decompression, and accidental injury.

VideoRay is new technology for underwater searches. An 8-pound, remotely controlled, video-equipped sub on a 250-foot tether, VideoRay captures color video of its surroundings and sends video to a monitor or PC screen on the surface. The VideoRay ROV scoped out the cold, dark waters of Lake Travis in depths from 60 to 70 feet. In just five minutes from launch of the VideoRay into the water, the ROV located the first items of possible value to the investigation. VideoRay’s manipulator arm helped retrieve items without the use of divers. In fact, divers were prepared but did not have to go into the water during the daylong search. The VideoRay searched areas where divers would have likely stirred up the bottom.

“Divers may have never found the items we located with VideoRay,” says Steve Van Meter, a Hazardous Duty Robotics Specialist from NASA/Kennedy Space Center. Bob Christ from VideoRay worked with Van Meter and the ATF Houston Field Division in the search. Van Meter uses a VideoRay at NASA/Kennedy Space Center to inspect tanks, culverts, and hazardous submerged areas.

The area searched by VideoRay was under the waterway in front of a slip where President Bush’s boat was docked. A scanning sonar was used to pinpoint submerged objects, which were displayed on the screen of a laptop PC for ATF agents to see.

About VideoRay:
With more than 2,000 Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) in service around the world, VideoRay has clearly become the global leader in Observation ROV technology. VideoRay is an extremely versatile, portable, affordable, and reliable solution for underwater operations including surveys, offshore inspections, search & recovery, homeland & port security, science & research, fish farming, and other unique applications in underwater environments. “Plug and play” technology allows you to quickly attach sensors and accessories in the field so you can successfully complete your mission. VideoRay is available on the General Services Administration.

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WHY VIDEORAY?

AFFORDABILITY

With ROVs starting under $10,000 (in the US), the cost is quickly justified when compared to commercial dive missions or funding the purchase, mobilization, staffing, and operation of larger ROVs.

PORTABILITY

One person can transport the tiny 8-pound sub, control box and tether. The Scout system weighs less than 70 pounds and packs neatly in one rolling Pelican case. All other systems fit in two Pelican cases that can be transported in a car trunk or helicopter, or checked as airline baggage.

USABILITY

Driving the VideoRay is similar to operating a video game. A specially trained ROV pilot is not needed. (In fact, kids raised on video games routinely put adults to shame piloting VideoRay.). VideoRay is equally at home with a search and rescue team as it is with a yacht owner enjoying live views of a coral reef in St. Thomas. Additional controls on advanced models include front camera focus and tilt, rear camera selection and automatic depth holding (see the product detail pages for complete lists of features and capabilities of each model).

SAFETY

Since VideoRay uses less than 500 watts of power, a car or marine battery with inverter, small gasoline generator, or any 100-240 VAC outlet powers the control box and submersible. The current running through the tether to the submersible is a comparatively safe 48 VDC, rather than the possibly lethal 360-plus VDC used by other ROVs. This makes it safe for divers to handle the submersible in the water, and for kids to swim with it in a pool.

REACH

Standard tether lengths vary by model, but additional neutral, negative, and positively buoyant tethers can be added to extend the overall reach of the VideoRay up to 1,100 feet. Tethers are available in a variety of lengths to meet the needs of particular water conditions or projects.