A new company, Viewport3, has been launched to help deliver new underwater scanning techniques.

Viewport3 was founded by Richard Drennan and Chris Harvey.

The company, which recently secured incubator membership at Subsea UK, aims to reduce the time and cost associated with performing subsea scanning operations. It has developed a process which allows digital cameras to be used to glean geometric information, enabling engineers to import real-world shapes into their CAD design software.

Technical director Chris Harvey said: “When an operator finds a concern with subsea hardware, it is often found through the digital camera of the ROV being used. Too often, a call then goes out for a laser scanning spread, which adds a delay to the project.

”Our message is simple; leave the ROV in the water, let us chat to the ROV pilot and suggest best flight path for scanning, and send us the images. In many cases the virtual geometry can be delivered before the end of the shift, allowing engineers to get on with the work of remediation. In certain environments, we’ve proven the accuracy down to 60 microns; the width of a hair.”

Richard Drennan, the company’s operations director added, “Innovation has been a buzz word for too long, but in the current climate strong action is needed to stay competitive, and having a support vessel on hire for longer than needed can be a huge and unexpected cost for our customers. Advances in software and cloud-computing allow us to use the assets available on-site, namely the digital cameras.”