DIY ROV
If you'd like to get your hands dirty, err, wet with some
hands-on experience piloting your own ROV, there is a set
of detailed construction documents available from Robert
Gordon University (RGU) School of Engineering. Dubbed
the RGU ROV, this experimental model is claimed to have
been derived from BEAM-like technology and is designed
for shallow freshwater environs like a bathtub or swimming
pool.
www4.rgu.ac.uk/eng/robotics/page.cfm?pge=8192
a riser insertion tube tool (RITT) — was then connected to a
one mile long section of pipe leading up to the drill ship,
Discoverer Enterprise (which can hold approximately 5
million gallons of oil). Using ROVs, the RITT was inserted
into the damaged 21 inch diameter well head riser pipe
that was leaking the oil.
According to Kent Wells, senior executive vice president
of BP, " ... we do have oil and gas coming to the ship now,
we do have a flare burning off the gas, and we have the oil
that's coming to the ship going to our surge tank."
This small success was not achieved without its share of
failure, however. BP had initially begun trying to insert the
RITT on May 14, but the connection to the drill ship failed
and the entire tube/pipe assembly had to be brought back
to the surface for adjustments.
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60 SERVO 07.2010