Valkyrie Technology will open up the oceans to human activity!
Who We Are
Valkyrie Technology is a new enterprise based in London currently developing Remotely Operated Vehicles controlled by satellite
Our Mission
We are dedicated to opening up the world's oceans to human activity by lowering costs and increasing reliability for remote controlled underwater vehicles
What We Do
We are developing underwater Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) which we will then build and operate
These ROVs are controlled via satellite rather than by an operator on a ship situated above the vehicle. By removing the requirement for a surface ship we can greatly reduce the cost and increase the reliability of underwater access. This greater reliability includes the ability to stay on-station no matter what the conditions and for long durations. These vehicles are therefore considered reliable because they are always available for work
We intend to offer our services to other people and organisations. We do not build vehicles for sale to other parties, nor do we allow others to operate our vehicles. We will work with academia, government and business to develop our full solution
Applications
The ROV provides access to the entire water column, from the surface all the way down to the ocean bottom. This access can be used for:
- Research
- Inspection
- Recovery
- Archaeology
- Mining
- Surveys and mapping
One of our long-term objectives is to map the ocean bottom for the entire world
Military Applications
We do not use our vehicles for military applications. Military vehicles similar to our own are being jointly developed by Thales and BAE Systems. See Maritime Mine Counter Measures (MMCM) for a description of the programme
Our Solution
Valkyrie Technology is focussed on opening up the underwater world using Remotely Operated Vehicles. We use an innovative approach to replace the highest cost and most unreliable component - the ship
A new surface unit is being developed to replace the ship. This surface unit, which can operate in all sea states, will generate electrical power using an internal combustion engine and generator unit. Powering both itself and the ROV, the surface unit contains remote control equipment which enables an operator on land to control both the surface unit and ROV via satellite
- The surface unit will connect to the ROV using a cable and provide both power and control to the ROV
- The surface unit will incorporate a satellite communications unit for remote control and data transfer
- Control will be enabled via land based operators using the satellite connection
- The surface unit can be refuelled and serviced by ship every few weeks or even monthly
Without a ship permanently on station the cost is reduced to:
- the cost of the operators
- the satellite connection
- vehicle fuel and
- the trip by the servicing ship
With a single type of surface unit, it allows flexibility in using different types of ROVs, these can be simple or complex and operate in shallow or deep water
Our Approach
Our objective is to use off-the-shelf production technology where possible. These components will be integrated by Valkyrie Technology to produce a fully functioning system. This greatly reduces the cost of development and ensures that components will be supported by industry, including the software and operating systems. Valkyrie Technology then has to support the integration components, such as software drivers, as well as operate the complete system
Systems will always be actively controlled by humans: Autonomous systems were considered, but even excluding development cost, it was considered that an autonomous system would have limited functionality with no ability to manage extraordinary conditions or the variability of environments and mission types required
Internal combustion power generation will be used: Battery powered vehicles with no external power generators were dismissed since the low power available would severely limit missions both in duration and the scope of work which could be undertaken
