Underwater ROVs to Adopt Safe Diving Practices with

A look at how underwater ROVs or underwater drones are being used to help monitor commercial divers while they perform various aquatic tasks. From Search and recovery to underwater inspections, dive teams are adopting ROVs for safe diving practices.

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Safe Diving for Commercial Divers

Specialization in infrastructure inspections, marine construction and industrial repair and maintenance often requires commercial diving teams to conduct a full range of underwater services. This often includes challenges under the waves, or within the tanks of industrial plants. Ranging from search and rescue, contraband inspections and salvage work, commercial dive teams often require additional assistance to mitigate risks and dangers.

Commercial divers are exposed to a variety of occupational safety and health hazards such as respiratory and circulatory risks, hypothermia, low visibility, and physical injury from the operation of heavy equipment under water. The type, length, frequency of dive and the type of operation increase the already high risk of strenuous work.

A group of commercial divers in Australia has recently been reacting to neurological symptoms including hallucinations, nausea, headaches, tremors and cognitive impairment after participating in dives to depths of 273 meters and working on the ocean floor.

Safe Diving Practices with Underwater ROV

Although divers cannot be entirely replaced by technology, Deep Trekker ROVs have the capability to assist in the monitoring of safe diving practices and mitigate the risks that are often problematic to divers. There is a significant concern for divers to dive past 30-40 meters for underwater tasks. Dives deeper than this often require a trimix - mix of oxygen, helium, and nitrogen - to breath. The deeper a diver descends, the less time they are able to spend at operational level and the longer the ascent due to the necessary safety measures to avoid decompression sickness.

About the Underwater ROVs

The Deep Trekker Mini ROV DTG3 and DTX2 are equipped with a quick 30-second deployment time and its camera allows for clear visibility underwater and up to 300 meters (1,000 feet) in depth. With batteries lasting up to 8 hours on a single 1.5-hour charge, these ROVs are able to remain submerged underwater for long periods of time.

Generally, divers are allocated 30 minutes to a maximum of one hour to be submerged underwater and at high pressures. Deep Trekker ROVs are completely portable, allowing divers to pick up, take off and take their ROV anywhere without the added use of bulky equipment, computers or generators. Its portability also helps to eliminate unpredictable and dangerous missions for dive teams.

While not intended to replace divers, the DTG3 ROV and REVOLUTION ROV work in tandem with divers and are critical in the safety and monitoring of commercial diving.

For more information on safe diving practices or to schedule a demo of a Deep Trekker underwater ROV, contact us today >