The last thread I see for discussion of maximum depth for the BR2 ended in '18. I wonder where we are since then. Even in that thread, you see BR engineers saying ratings are 100m, but you are probably OK to 130m. Then you see people who’ve pushed to 200m and beyond saying it all worked out. For an upcoming project, we need to get to 200m and do some physical manipulation of an installation with the gripper. Obviously we need to be able to see and navigate. Can that be done safely? Which enclosures can make it that deep? I saw mention of an all aluminum 4" that would be required, but I don’t see that as an available option. I’m assuming the larger ones would fail.
I’d appreciate the official line on these depths, as well as the stories of users pushing the limits.
Failure occurs at the weakest link, so all the pressure-resisting components need to be considered, and same for things like tether communication length. With an aluminum 4" enclosure and WetLink Penetrators, 200m should be well within the ratings
Note that the slim tether is only rated to 200m for communication, so if you want to actually move around at 200m depth then you’ll need a standard tether.
I believe the new enclosures will be launching this week
I had a BR2 regularly working at 300m last month. It was for an inshore project so it didn’t have to deal with currents - just a 300m shaft then 100m into the tunnel. The vehicle has a fiber tether, aluminum housings and Cobalt connectors for all the cable penetrations. It’s rare for a thruster to fail, but one got damaged by the recovery hook so it was great to be able to swap it out without having to open the electronics enclosure.
Hi there, I’m wondering how is the fiber comms system working for you? I’m interested in working with fiber too on my bluerov and looking into optical converters, cables etc options right now. It would be great if you could spare some info on that if you don’t mind, thanks!
