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The Challenge of ROV Hazard Avoidance

ROV technicians / pilots will have at least one story about an ROV issue in the field for one reason or another: i.e. tether entanglement, power failure, loss of control, thruster failure… We certainly have had some close calls where our ROV technician has ended up in the water to retrieve their vehicle.

While some of us keep these stories to ourselves, we came across an article recently where an expedition’s primary ROV got entangled in nylon survey line and the back-up ROV sent to retrieve the primary vehicle also got stuck.

We are waiting breathlessly to hear how this story ends.

Full article at: Cassville-Democrat 08may24

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An ROV that can crawl, walk and swim?

Engineers at South Korea’s Pohang University of Science and Technology are developing a new ROV that doesn’t use propellers, rather is based on a salamander with fins and “flexible backbone” for locomotion. Named HERO-BLUE, this vehicle can crawl, walk, swim and wriggle through shallow-water areas not accessible by ROVs.

Full article at: CyberGuy.com 29apr24

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Has your Blue Robotics camera failed?

Blue Robotics has identified a potential issue with their Mount for USB Camera (BR-100254) affecting the Low-Light USB Camera (BR-100126) updated in November 2021. The camera mount did not provide for the relocation of three resistors on the left side of the camera so, when mounted, the camera would press directly on these (very small) parts. Depending on the torque used to fasten the camera to the mount, some or all of these resistors could crack, leading to the camera’s failure.

If you have experienced a recent camera failure, please take high resolution photos of the board (see example below) and, if you bought the camera from us, contact us for a replacement camera and mount (make sure to supply photos).

If you sourced the camera from Blue Robotics directly, please use this link to contact Blue Robotics Support to log your issue.

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Waaaay Bigger Blue Robotics Watertight Enclosures

Blue Robotics just announced their 5″, 6″, and 8″ locking enclosures into their watertight housing family. These enclosures are rated to 500m to 1000m depths and end-cap options are flat, aluminium, with and without pre-drilled M10 holes.

The online configurator has expanded  to included these new sizes and we can also order any of these parts quickly for you.

FYI – the non locking versions will continue to be available for a little longer.