• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.389-399
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• 2016

This paper presents the explorations of hydrothermal vents located in the Marina Arc and Back Arc Basin using the deep-sea ROV Hemire. These explorations were conducted by KRISO and KIOST to demonstrate the capability of Hemire in various applications for deep-sea scientific research. The missions included the following: (1) to search the reported vents, (2) conduct visual inspections, (3) deploy/recover a sediment trap and bait traps, (4) sample sediment/water/rock, (5) measure the magnetic field at the vent site, and (6) acquire a detailed map using multi-beam sonar near the bottom. We installed three HD cameras for precise visual inspection, a high-temperature thermometer, a three-component magnetometer, and a multi-beam sonar to acquire details of the bottom contour or identify vents in the survey area. The explorations were performed in an expedition from March 23 to April 5, 2016, and the missions were successfully completed. This paper discusses the operational process, navigation, and control of Hemire, as well as the exploration results.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.287-295
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• 2018

This paper presents the results of an exploration of the ferromanganese crusts of Western Pacific Seamount registered by the Korean government. This area has been surveyed with a deep-sea camera and crust samples have been acquired by deep-sea dredging since 2013. On October 18-19, 2017, a united research team from KIOST and KRISO explored two blocks, OSM11 and OSM07, on the seamount using Hemire ROV. A precise survey was conducted on the ferromanganese crusts and sediments covering the slope/top of OSM11 and the middle flat area of OSM07. Rock samples were collected with precise positioning, and HD videos were recorded for 7 hours. This paper discusses the technical issues of this exploration in terms of (1) how to deal with an emergency situation during an electric power blackout, (2) the improvement of the thruster power by adding cooling plugs to the housings of the thruster amplifiers, (3) the relative motion of the depressor by changing the fixing method of the cable terminator, which affects the service life of the cable, (4) a sampling technique for the steep slope of the seamount, (5) integrated navigation under a USBL blackout, and (6) a 3-dimensional image mosaic for visualizing the distribution state of the crusts.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.289-299
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• 2019

Various sizes of ROVs are being utilized in offshore industrial, scientific, and military applications all around the world. Because of innovative developments in science and technology, image acquisition devices such as sonar devices and cameras have been reduced in size and their performance has been improved. Thus, we can expect better accuracy and higher resolution even in the case of exploration using a small ROV. The purpose of this paper is to prepare a standard procedure for the identification of unidentified hazardous materials found during the National Oceanographic Survey. In this paper, we propose an IDEF (Integrated DEFinition) method modeling technique to identify unidentified targets using a small ROV. In accordance with the proposed procedure, an ROV survey was carried out on target No.16 with a four-ton-class fishing boat as a support vessel on September 18th of 2018 in the sea near Daebu Island. Unidentified targets, which were not known by the multi-beam data obtained from the ship, could be identified as concrete pipes by analyzing the HD camera and high-resolution sonar images acquired by the ROV. The whole proposed procedure could be verified, and the survey with the small ROV required about 10 days to identify the target in one place.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.69-79
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• 2017

This paper presents the operations of a multi-beam echo sounder (MBES) installed on the deep-sea remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Hemire. Hemire explored hydrothermal vents in the Forecast volcano located near the Mariana Trench in March of in 2006. During these explorations, we acquired profiling points on the routes of the vehicle using the MBES. Information on the position, depth, and attitude of the ROV are essential to obtain higher accuracy for the profiling quality. However, the MBES installed on Hemire does not have its own position and depth sensors. Although it has attitude sensors for roll, pitch, and heading, the specifications of these sensors were not clear. Therefore, we had to merge the high-performance sensor data for the motion and position obtained from Hemire into the profiling data of the MBES. Then, we could properly convert the profiling points with respect to the Earth-fixed coordinates. This paper describes the integration of the MBES with Hemire, as well as the coordinate conversion between them. Bathymetric maps near the summit of the Forecast volcano were successfully collected through these processes. A comparison between the bathymetric maps from the MBES and those from the Onnuri Research Vessel, the mother ship of the ROV Hemire for these explorations, is also presented.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.161-167
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• 2019

In this paper, the performance verification of an around-view sonar and an excavation depth measuring sonar applicable to track-based ROVs (Remotely Operated underwater Vehicles) for heavy duty work is studied. For the performance verification, an experiment is carried out in a water tank and at sea by attaching the around-view sonar and the excavation depth measuring sonar for a heavy work ROV. In the case of the around-view sonar, image sonars are mounted on ROV in four directions (front, back, left and right) and in the case of the excavation depth measuring sonar, the same kind of MBES (Multi Beam Echo Sounder) is mounted on the front of the ROV. The result of an operation test of the ROV equipped with these sonars shows that the sonar systems are rarely affected by high turbidity due to sedimentation during the operation. In the case of the around-view sonar, it is possible to see rock formation, gravel and sandbank 30 m ahead of the ROV. It is confirmed that the excavation depth can be measured after the ROV has performed the excavation. This experiment demonstrates that the ROV can improve the efficiency of the work by utilizing the around-view sonar and the excavation depth measuring sonar.