Rovco, a subsea technology company, has secured Innovate UK funding to develop a 3D visualisation system as a part of a two-part Artificial Intelligence demonstrator project potentially worth £1 million.
Working in partnership with the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, the first phase of the project will see Rovco develop the equipment and software required to produce live 3D data from subsea environments.
The technology will be trialed and tested at ORE Catapult’s renewable energy test facility in Blyth.
Phase two will include the development of a complete 3D vision-based survey solution using Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The first phase of the project will be 70% supported by Innovate UK, and the remaining 30% will be funded by Rovco.
The planned phase two is expected to be further backed by Innovate UK once technical feasibility is proven. This will see Rovco partner with an autonomous vehicle manufacturer and other subsea companies.
Rovco chief executive and founder, Brian Allen , said: “We aim to deliver a step change in how offshore surveys are performed by generating live 3D data from survey-class ROVs to increase efficiencies, reduce costs and minimize risks. ”
This latest project follows Rovco’s previous Innovate UK funded study which demonstrated the market need and overall feasibility for 3D models of subsea assets.