Forum Subsea Technologies and BluHaptics have announced a joint agreement enabling technologies from both companies to be combined to provide solutions for ROV (remotely operated vehicle) and subsea engineering applications.
The VMAX Software is a 3D ROV simulation product, which is used for training and evaluation of ROV pilots as well as by subsea engineering teams for modelling and verification of procedures involving intervention tasks related to installing and maintaining subsea equipment.
As Forum’s VMAX ROV Simulator provides a variety of ROV training scenarios designed to test pilots’ skills within realistic operational scenarios, many of which require the use of a 7-function manipulator, the user interface for manipulator control is key to providing a realistic user experience.
BluHaptics’ Dex-OS manipulator control system provides an intuitive user interface with the ability to introduce variable levels of automation to make execution of subsea intervention tasks more safe and efficient. Not only does Dex-OS provides a cost-effective alternative for control of 7-function manipulators within VMAX simulated operations, but it also provides variable levels of automation to offer inspiration for engineering teams seeking to improve operations involving increasingly complex intervention scenarios.
For ROV operators who are interested in implementing BluHaptics Dex-OS technology into their ROV fleet, VMAX and BluHaptics can now offer a simulated environment as a platform for demonstration and transition training to ROV pilots without tying up expensive ROV assets. Both systems operate on a laptops, which offers mobility, convenience and flexibility.
VMAX Product Director, Andy McAra stated: “We have seen a real increase of the use of 3D simulation products by engineers for evaluating subsea system designs and the way in which underwater vehicles interact with them. For those engineers who are not accustomed to piloting an ROV let alone controlling a 7-function manipulator, we can now offer a very cost-effective and intuitive alternative to the legacy controller.
“We are very pleased to have this agreement in place which allows us to maximise the synergies between VMAX and Dex-OS.”
Luke Wissmann, BluHaptics VP of Business Development, added: “Forum’s portable VMAX simulator has made it possible to demonstrate our new Dex-OS system in conference rooms around the world for offshore energy stakeholders, which allows us to show how the system functions in real-world scenarios. So demonstrations become very credible and the value proposition of Dex-OS becomes even more apparent.”
