WEBVTT 00:13.970 --> 00:16.889 The US Army Corps of Engineers , or UAE , 00:17.190 --> 00:19.379 manages hundreds of locks and dams , 00:19.469 --> 00:21.413 which are critical components of a 00:21.413 --> 00:23.459 complex navigation system that is 00:23.459 --> 00:25.600 central to our nation's economy and 00:25.600 --> 00:27.670 security . Inspecting this aging 00:27.670 --> 00:30.110 aquatic infrastructure often requires 00:30.110 --> 00:32.930 costly and dangerous processes such as 00:32.930 --> 00:34.849 deploying divers or dewatering 00:34.849 --> 00:37.016 structures , which shuts down the flow 00:37.016 --> 00:39.750 of goods and materials . To help USA 00:39.750 --> 00:41.917 districts perform these inspections in 00:41.917 --> 00:44.083 a safer and more Cost effective manner 00:44.194 --> 00:46.555 and with higher quality , the US Army 00:46.555 --> 00:48.444 Engineer Research and Development 00:48.444 --> 00:50.555 Center , or ERIC has been testing the 00:50.555 --> 00:52.722 use of an underwater remotely operated 00:52.722 --> 00:55.715 vehicle or ROV . I'm a former Navy 00:55.715 --> 00:57.826 diver , former Marine Corps combatant 00:57.826 --> 01:00.474 diver . I'm well aware of the dangers 01:00.474 --> 01:03.395 of diving , and any time you send a 01:03.395 --> 01:05.339 person into the water , there's an 01:05.339 --> 01:07.635 inherent risk and the , the underwater 01:07.635 --> 01:09.754 RV , what allows us to do is to do a 01:09.754 --> 01:12.339 pre-site inspection . So we can 01:12.339 --> 01:16.160 understand what the problem is and that 01:16.160 --> 01:18.510 then allows the dive teams to plan 01:18.510 --> 01:21.230 properly to optimize their dive time to 01:21.230 --> 01:23.341 really go directly to the root of the 01:23.341 --> 01:25.674 problem and fix the problem and get out . 01:25.949 --> 01:28.060 The these lock and locks and dams are 01:28.060 --> 01:30.116 still operational , so we don't shut 01:30.116 --> 01:32.171 down shipping traffic to perform the 01:32.171 --> 01:34.510 survey and whereas if we have humans 01:34.510 --> 01:36.693 and . Water we absolutely have to shut 01:36.693 --> 01:39.983 that down . And so not only are we able 01:39.983 --> 01:42.663 to perform the surveys , but we're also 01:42.663 --> 01:44.663 able to maintain shipping traffic , 01:44.663 --> 01:46.943 which is a benefit to our , our 01:46.943 --> 01:49.242 industry . Erdic researchers initially 01:49.242 --> 01:51.773 began working with this ROV technology 01:51.773 --> 01:54.172 as a part of a military-focused project . 01:54.623 --> 01:56.790 However , they soon realized that this 01:56.790 --> 01:58.901 capability could also be applied . To 01:58.901 --> 02:01.179 solve a pressing civil works challenge , 02:01.179 --> 02:03.736 ROV was purchased to support an 02:03.736 --> 02:05.514 operation looking at underwater 02:05.514 --> 02:07.514 unexploded ordinances and so that's 02:07.514 --> 02:09.569 kind of what we initially bought the 02:09.569 --> 02:11.903 ROV for , but then we quickly found out , 02:11.903 --> 02:13.958 you know , after using the sonar and 02:13.958 --> 02:13.856 the laser scaling images and the video 02:13.856 --> 02:15.912 and things like that that we could , 02:15.912 --> 02:17.800 hey , you know , let's go off and 02:17.800 --> 02:19.856 inspect things or , you know , after 02:19.856 --> 02:22.023 we're inspecting things let's get into 02:22.023 --> 02:24.078 the research side of things . It has 02:24.078 --> 02:26.189 been deployed in the Chicago Electric 02:26.189 --> 02:28.250 dispersal barrier to identify broken 02:28.250 --> 02:30.490 billets without any disruption to the 02:30.490 --> 02:33.009 canal's ship traffic . It has dived 02:33.009 --> 02:35.289 more than 80 ft down a vertical shaft 02:35.289 --> 02:37.410 to identify a large crack inside a 02:37.410 --> 02:40.509 culvert . It's pretty powerful uh 02:40.509 --> 02:42.509 little thing so it could operate in 02:42.509 --> 02:45.550 some high-ish , uh , currents . 02:46.149 --> 02:48.205 Um , it's , it's small enough to fit 02:48.205 --> 02:50.038 into a lot of the smaller , uh , 02:50.038 --> 02:52.260 culverts and everything , and we have a 02:52.260 --> 02:55.029 really powerful , uh , multi-beam sonar 02:55.029 --> 02:57.029 that allows us to operate in really 02:57.029 --> 02:59.509 murky , murky water . The brains would 02:59.509 --> 03:01.565 be the all the sensors , the cameras 03:01.565 --> 03:03.731 they they tell you all the information 03:03.731 --> 03:05.898 that's happening around you the uh the 03:05.898 --> 03:07.898 rover is just kind of uh the vessel 03:07.898 --> 03:10.120 where that you're carrying all these uh 03:10.120 --> 03:12.342 cameras and sensors with . We have done 03:12.342 --> 03:14.620 some modifications like attaching a uh . 03:14.620 --> 03:16.676 A spray bottle to the to the gripper 03:16.676 --> 03:18.898 arm to squirt die in certain situations 03:18.898 --> 03:21.009 to see where it flows into cracks and 03:21.009 --> 03:23.009 stuff or if there's any flow at all 03:23.009 --> 03:25.120 looking for you know cracks in a in a 03:25.120 --> 03:27.120 bulkhead . In the New Orleans Inner 03:27.120 --> 03:28.787 Harbor navigation canal , the 03:28.787 --> 03:30.953 underwater ROV's multi-beam technology 03:30.953 --> 03:32.940 provided usable imagery in murky 03:32.940 --> 03:35.130 conditions with near zero visibility . 03:35.380 --> 03:37.770 It's allowed engineers to Diagnose and 03:37.770 --> 03:39.659 address the cause of a gate valve 03:39.659 --> 03:41.570 malfunction . Prior to using the 03:41.570 --> 03:43.770 underwater ROV , the district had 03:43.770 --> 03:46.250 unsuccessfully tried other methods and 03:46.250 --> 03:48.472 was considering the need to dewater the 03:48.472 --> 03:51.649 canal , which enables the passage of $4 03:51.649 --> 03:54.250 million of commodities each day . I 03:54.250 --> 03:56.306 think with this technology there's a 03:56.306 --> 03:58.472 real opportunity here to just gather a 03:58.472 --> 04:00.472 lot of data that people have always 04:00.472 --> 04:02.583 kind of been . Scratching their heads 04:02.583 --> 04:04.806 and wondering , you know , is it really 04:04.806 --> 04:06.972 like that , you know , is the estimate 04:06.972 --> 04:09.083 correct . By conducting research into 04:09.083 --> 04:11.028 how to best use this off the shelf 04:11.028 --> 04:13.250 technology for underwater inspections , 04:13.250 --> 04:15.472 the errdic team can test , validate and 04:15.472 --> 04:18.130 develop systematic approaches and best 04:18.130 --> 04:20.760 practices . Their insight will help Ua 04:20.760 --> 04:22.839 districts know what works and what 04:22.839 --> 04:25.061 doesn't , and will Enable them to fully 04:25.061 --> 04:26.895 capitalize on the transformative 04:26.895 --> 04:28.779 potential of ROVs for underwater 04:28.779 --> 04:31.299 inspections . One of the the great 04:31.299 --> 04:33.829 powers of Erdic is the , the fact that 04:33.829 --> 04:36.162 we do have such interdisciplinary teams . 04:36.350 --> 04:38.239 We have folks that are experts in 04:38.239 --> 04:40.406 operating in the environment . We have 04:40.406 --> 04:43.429 engineers who are uh experts in in how 04:43.429 --> 04:46.320 to uh develop back in networks or 04:46.320 --> 04:49.450 software . Uh , we have experts in AI 04:49.450 --> 04:52.250 and autonomy . We have , uh , experts 04:52.250 --> 04:55.570 and sensors and how we view and see the 04:55.570 --> 04:57.929 world , um , that is one of the great 04:57.929 --> 05:00.151 powers of verdict and that's one of the 05:00.151 --> 05:02.373 reasons why I really enjoyed working at 05:02.373 --> 05:02.769 a place like this .