Canada’s Ocean Supercluster Announces Project That Will Revolutionize Offshore Inspection
Today Canada’s Ocean Supercluster announced four new projects with a total value of $4.5 million from its Accelerated Ocean Solutions Program (AOSP) stream including the Automated Pipeline Payload for Small AUVs Project. This Ontario-led project will develop a commercial survey payload for portable AUVs in response to expanding market demand for more efficient ocean floor inspection capabilities, and create nine new jobs.
The ocean floor is home to a growing body of aging critical infrastructure in a corrosive, difficult to access and poorly mapped environment. Much of this infrastructure, which includes pipelines, energy infrastructure, and cables requires regular inspection that has historically been conducted using slow ROVs deployed on large-crewed vessels that cannot achieve the same efficiency as small AUVs. The project output is a commercially ready small AUV payload, for immediate adoption by inspection companies to improve their capability and cost efficiency. This project will accelerate the proliferation of advanced ocean technology, strengthen the Canadian digital workforce, and deliver long term growth in Canada’s ocean economy.
With a total project value of $1.7 million, the Ocean Supercluster will provide $990,000 in funding for the project, with the balance coming from industry partners. The Automated Pipeline Payload for Small AUVs Project is led by 2G Robotics with partners Ocean Floor Geophysics (OFG), EIVA, L3Harris OceanServer, and Ocean Infinity who will work together to revolutionize the offshore inspection industry.
This project catalyzes the development of strategic partnerships between Canadian and international companies, leveraging their individual strengths to deliver an innovative solution that enhances their competitiveness and expands the reach of Canada’s Ocean Supercluster. Canada’s Ocean Supercluster is an industry-led transformative cluster focused on tackling the shared challenges across ocean sectors through a collaborative program designed to accelerate the development and commercialization of globally-relevant solutions, while also building a highly-capable, inclusive workforce. To encourage innovation and trigger new industry investment during these challenging times, the Ocean Supercluster supplemented its core programs with an additional project stream called Accelerated Ocean Solutions Program (AOSP). This enables the development of smaller projects on a shorter timeline that deliver tangible outcomes, while continuing to build resiliency in our ocean sectors.
“The Ocean Supercluster is driving innovation in the ocean economy by investing in areas where Canada has a competitive edge. The four projects announced today demonstrate the depth of expertise that the Supercluster is fostering within the ocean economy, ranging from smart, green electricity grids to artificial intelligence-informed seafood traceability.” The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
“The projects we are funding under the Ocean Supercluster will play a vital role in Canada’s emerging blue economy. Improving underwater imaging and offshore infrastructure inspections will allow us to grow our marine industries more safely and sustainably. Our government will continue to invest in ocean science and technology, so we can get more Canadians working on and in our oceans.” The Honourable Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
“We are excited to announce this Ontario-led project and provide almost $1 million in funding for the development of an innovative solution that will not only respond to the growing demand for more efficient ocean floor inspection capabilities, but also build strong cross-sectoral partnerships, and create jobs.” Kendra MacDonald, CEO, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster
“We are excited to announce our new project made possible by Canada’s Ocean Supercluster and are confident that we have the perfect team to deliver a truly innovative solution that will help shift the offshore survey industry towards automation and sustainable operations. The 3D laser and colour images made possible with 2G Robotics’ technology bring a level of resolution and understanding not previously achievable on small platforms. For more information on 2G Robotics visit www.2grobotics.com.” Chris Gilson, General Manager, 2G Robotics
“The OFG iCP system is a proven technology that has been deployed commercially for AUV pipeline inspections in deep-water applications on four continents. Non-contact AUV integrated Cathodic Protection (iCP) is a key component in the adoption of AUV pipeline inspection by the owners, insurers and operators of subsea pipelines and infrastructure. OFG is the only company globally with a proven AUV iCP data collection and processing system that allows for anomalies and the overall system health to be analysed in near real-time offshore. The support of Canada’s Ocean Supercluster (OSC) in this project will allow OFG and our partners to develop a system for smaller light logistics AUV, increasing the efficiency and data quality at a lower cost to the subsea industry. This project comes with a unique set of challenges and risks, but also with an opportunity to serve a much larger pipeline inspection market in shallow water; a perfect place to apply the collaborative model promoted by the OSC.” Matthew Kowalczyk, CEO of OFG
ABOUT OFG: Since its inception Ocean Floor Geophysics has consistently developed and operated innovative marine geophysical systems to provide new perspectives to our clients. We provide data acquisition and analysis services that were previously unavailable by integrating magnetic, EM, CSEM/MT, gravity, chemical, and hydrographic sensors and systems deployed on AUVs, ASV/USVs, ROVs and towed systems. OFG provides you with tools to lower your exploration, inspection, and development risk. Better data. Better decisions. For more information on OFG visit www.oceanfloorgeophysics.com.