A new on-demand wire-less ribbon lighting system, designed to enhance diver safety and efficiency in remote subsea locations, has been launched following a collaboration between award-winning Scottish technology companies WFS Technologies Ltd and PhotoSynergy Ltd.
Seatooth LIGHTPATH™ is a combination of two advanced technologies – WFS’s Seatooth, a subsea wireless communication system that can download and log information gathered on subsea installations remotely, and PhotoSynergy Ltd’s LIGHTPATH™, a side-emitting flexible fibre that projects a continuous line of light that carries no electrical power.
The new product works for both diver and ROV operators working either near surface or at depths of up to 3,000m. The light is engaged automatically when the diver or the ROV comes within five yards of a structure, and provides instant illumination of subsea architecture and delineating features such as control valves, docking bays and even the outline of the structure itself against the natural darkness of the underwater environment.
The unit has been successfully tested in the lab, and will be trialled in subsea conditions in Spring 2017.
PhotoSynergy Ltd Director Don Walker said the companies had joined forces in a bid to find a solution to an industry request for a remote switching system to remove the need for physical contact, which would save subsea operational companies time and money, increase productivity and avert potential damage to ROV and structures.
Brendan Hyland, Chairman of Livingston-based WFS Technologies, said: “This is a further example of the ‘Subsea Internet of Things’, where intelligent devices automatically communicate with one another wirelessly, improving efficiency and safety.”
Pixie Energy is an incubator and a facilitator of strategic research and project work, focusing on energy regulation, policy and markets at the local and national level. Find out more about Pixie Energy