Hibbard Inshore-Scanning Sonar Service

Scanning Sonar and Multibeam Image Surveys

Hibbard Inshore extends vehicle fleet with SAAB Seaeye Hybrid Vehicle “Sabertooth”

Auburn Hills, MI, April 10, 2013:
Leading underwater service provider, Hibbard Inshore has recently deployed their newest hybrid vehicle from SAAB Seaeye. The “Sabertooth” is a hybrid ROV/AUV that is able to travel up to 20 km+ (tethered) and operates with up to 12 hours of battery life (untethered). Whether the vehicle is in AUV or ROV mode, it is capable of holding station and altitude while maintaining stability. Because of this ability, it allows for a single vehicle platform to perform advanced survey, inspection, and light intervention tasks. With its excursion range of 20 km+ and depth rating to 1200 meters, it can embark on either long range programmable missions, or under operator control around set targets. It can perform obstacle avoidance while surveyieg in autonomous mode, can perform sonar target tracking and has precise maneuverability while under pilot control, allowing it to perform survey functions as well as the inspection of complex structures.

The Hibbard Inshore Saab Vehicle also can be fit with sensing packages to make it extremely well suited as a long distance, tunnel inspection vehicle. In these scenarios, the vehicle can use its resident Phins inertial system along with both forward looking and profiling sonar to collect high density data in fully flooded tunnels while moving at speed. The data can be used to detect features of interest such as open cracks, loss of tunnel material, sediment or debris build up, and issues with tunnel liners. 3D maps can also be created to show changes in sediment levels and changes in tunnel dimensions when compared to as-built drawings or previous survey data. The vehicle also has the advantage that where operating space is tight, the Sabertooth’s 360 degree maneuverability and six degrees of freedom control means that it can orient itself and maintain stability in any position including completely vertical allowing it to move through shafts or over grades while attending to its light intervention work, survey or inspection task.

By combining the abilities and technologies of both AUV and ROV vehicles into a single unified resource, the Sabertooth is a versatile tool allowing survey, verification, and intervention projects to be completed quickly and efficiently.

About Hibbard Inshore
Headquartered in Auburn Hills MI, Hibbard Inshore is a global engineering services company specializing in the use of Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs). With a premier fleet of ROVs and experienced staff, Hibbard Inshore is able to provide the expertise and technology necessary to solve the challenges of both the inshore and offshore industries.

Meet the Mojave – Hibbard Inshore’s newest addition to its ROV fleet

Auburn Hills, MI, December 19, 2012:
Earlier this year, leading underwater service provider, Hibbard Inshore announces the newest addition to its Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) fleet – the Mojave. Purchased from Sub-AtlanticTM, the Mojave sets new standards for compact ROVs due to its small size and powerful, vectoring thrusters.

Hibbard Inshore is enthusiastic about their new addition. “With the success of the other vehicles we have purchased through Sub-AtlanticTM, such as the Mohican and Navajo, we were confident in purchasing the Mojave. Its capabilities fit in nicely with our current Sub-Atlantic vehicles as well as our Seabotix ROVs and Saab AUV/ROV vehicles broadening our abilities to serve the inspection and specialty construction markets. We’re excited about utilizing this vehicle in conditions where currents could be a factor such as in outfall inspections or the survey or inspection of nearshore cables.” said senior project engineer Dave Malak.

The vehicle’s vectoring thrusters allow the Mojave to remain stationary in changing current conditions, increasing productivity during inspections.

In March the Mojave successfully debuted in the field by plugging leaks in the bottom of a 180m surge shaft using its manipulator and other specialty tooling to insert plugs into the existing holes to stop the leaks. The project went smoothly and reduced leaking in the shaft by more than 60%. The vehicle will be returning to that site in 2013 to perform further repairs. “We’re looking forward to using the Mojave for this project because we need a small, powerful vehicle with good control to make the repairs” said ROV supervisor Chester Schultz.

The Mojave joins Hibbard Inshore’s diverse fleet of ROVs, offering clients an even wider array of solutions for their specialty underwater projects.

About Hibbard Inshore
Headquartered in Auburn Hills MI, Hibbard Inshore is a global engineering services company
specializing in the use of Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs). With a premier fleet of ROVs and experienced staff, Hibbard Inshore is able to provide the expertise and technology necessary to solve
the complex challenges of the inshore and offshore industry.

Hibbard Inshore-Marine Geophysical Service

Marine Geophysical Surveying

Hibbard Inshore-Multibeam Bathymetric Surveying

Multibeam Bathymetric Surveying

Technology Spotlight

Long flowing Tunnel Inspection

Hibbard Inshore traveled to Central America to inspect a 9.5 meter diameter, 4.8 kilometer long, fully flooded tunnel in zero/limited visibility conditions. The tunnel had been built using several different types of material, and …

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Inspection of a 16 Kilometer Large Diameter Intake Tunnel in Flow

Hibbard Inshore coordinated with Saab Underwater Systems to engineer a custom AUV/ROV to inspect a large diameter, 16 kilometer long tunnel in zero/limited visibility conditions. The unique aspect of this job is that while the flow in the tunnel could be slowed for a period of time, due to demand, the flow could not be stopped for this inspection. Because of the tunnel’s length, it had never been fully inspected after its commissioning prior to this project.

The purpose of the inspection was to detect and document the location of debris, detect any anomalies and give the engineer data to help determine the structural condition of the tunnel. It was determined that, for the inspection, the client would have to slow the tunnel’s flow but would not have to stop the flow which would have critically affected their production. However, even with the ability to keep the tunnel flowing at a slower rate, this lower flow condition could not be maintained for very long, and as a result, the inspection had to be completed as quickly as possible while gathering pertinent data.

Due to the strict requirements of the project, Hibbard designed the inspection process to minimize outage time while maintaining the safety of the tunnel and the vehicle. A small ROV was used to aid the entry of the larger AUV/ROV hybrid into the tunnel, and a Launch and Recovery System (LARS) was designed to deploy the larger vehicle through the head gate slot while minimizing friction between the tether and the tunnel crown.

The hybrid AUV/ROV was equipped with three video cameras, a BlueView 2D multibeam sonar unit and two Imagenex sonar units to ensure the completion of the inspection during the allotted time for inspection. The Imagenex sonar provided cross section data of the tunnel while the BlueView system gave Hibbard Inshore imaging and measurement of features in front of the vehicle while the vehicle was moving at full speed. The fast update rate of the BlueView allowed the vehicle to move quickly without missing any sediment buildup or dimensional anomalies.

The combination of the two sonar systems ensured that hazards in the tunnel would be missed by the inspection despite travelling at full speed. Throughout the inspection, battery life and the ROV’s safety were monitored to ensure there would not be any issue with retrieval. Through carefully managing battery life, selecting proper sensors to identify features of interest as well as hazards, and mitigating dangers, Hibbard Inshore thoroughly inspected the available portion of the 16km tunnel and met the customer’s strict needs for minimum generation.

Long Flooded Sewer Siphon Inspection

Hibbard Inshore performed an internal siphon inspection of wastewater pipeline to determine the existing condition of the pipe and to note any features of interest. The inspection was a challenge for traditional sewer inspection systems because the siphon was over 240 feet deep and was over 2900 feet in length. Because this was an influent pipeline, it was assumed that there would be material buildup at the elbows of the siphon making it even more difficult for a crawling system to inspect. As a result, it was decided that the siphon would be inspected with Hibbard Inshore’s Long Range Navajo vehicle with 7,200’ tether. Flow to the pipe was temporarily stopped to perform the inspection allowing some of the particulate to settle out of the water and giving the ROV cameras limited visibility.

This sonar plot details the large section of buildup found on the crown of pipeline.

Hibbard Inshore commissioned their Navajo Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) outfitted with monochrome and color video cameras and two types of sonar to perform the inspection which was completed from two access points with the vehicle traveling through the line in both the upstream and downstream directions until there was overlap. This was done because the line had a significant bend of almost 90 degrees present that would cause significant friction for the umbilical. Therefore, the vehicle inspected to just past this bend from the upstream direction, and then on a subsequent day inspected the pipe to just past the bend from the downstream direction. During the inspection the Navajo stopped every 50 feet to get a stationary sonar plot with a cross section in order to measure sediment levels and to determine if there were any out of round conditions in the pipe. The water clarity was good enough once the pipe was dormant for a period of time that video was periodically used to see features such as spalled concrete, pipe joints, exposed wire mesh from the pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipe and the character and volume of debris. The sonar was used to detect features such as open joints, sedimentation, and grease buildups in the line and to measure cross-sectional dimensioning to quantify the sediment and buildups allowing the owner to assess the condition of a line that had not previously been able to be inspected.

Long Distance Internal Outfall Inspection

For this long distance outfall inspection, Hibbard Inshore used one of their Navajo swimming remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to inspect an outfall in flowing conditions. The client decided that because of the length of the outfall, the inability to shut down for lengthy periods, and because of the safety risk the 6.5mgd flow posed to a dive inspection that a swimming ROV inspection would be the best option in order to look for structural defects, sediment, and other sources of blockage.

To fight the flows, Hibbard used their Navajo ROV which has very high thrust capabilities for its small size, and it was able to fit through the standard 24” manhole access points available on shore. The vehicle for this project was equipped with dual sonar heads and video cameras. Because the effluent water had limited visibility distance for the camera systems, the sonar heads were important in looking in front of the vehicle to identify sediment level changes or possible issues while the cross-sectioning sonar was able to take dimensional cross sections along the length of the outfall. These sonar measurements were coupled with the video to give the customer an accurate depiction of the outfall.

Hibbard Inshore’s ROV pilots inspected the outfall in its entirety, entering from two different locations in order to cover the outfall’s entire length. The sonar was run continually for feature detection, and stationary sonar snapshots were taken at 100’ intervals, inspecting areas of interest further with video cameras if features of interest were detected. During the inspection, several previously unknown features of interest were noted including the presence of boards left under each manhole from previous manned entries as well as large sections of poly hose and other debris. These features were cataloged for future removal by the customer. At the end of the inspection, more than 7500’ of pipeline was inspected in flow.
Using Hibbard Inshore’s swimming ROV allowed the client to conduct a thorough inspection of their outfall without fully shutting down the operations of their plant which was critical to serving the community’s processing needs.

Marine Surveys

Hibbard Inshore utilizes ACSM-Certified Marine Hydrographers to provide both single beam and multibeam bathymetry.