Customer’s challenge

Allowing an underwater ROV to perform remote inspection activities at greater depths required the tether from the ship-based power source be extended. Distributing the original design’s low voltage over the longer tether was not practical due to voltage drops. Moving to a high-voltage 700V low-loss tether, however, required conversion to a lower SELV voltage onboard the ROV. This typically requires a custom converter that takes up space and adds weight, not feasible in an ROV that needs to be able to carry increased payloads. The key goals were:

• Extending the tether, required for deep or remote inspection, without loss of performance
• Avoid the high cost of a custom discrete power solution while saving space and weight
• Retain clear transmission of data via the tether for onboard sensors