KCF Smart Tether Used in Hull Inspection of U.S.S. John F. Kennedy

On June 30th, 2009, personnel from KCF Technologies and VideoRay performed a partial hull inspection of the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy, as well as an inspection of the pier at which it is moored at the Philadelphia Naval Business Center. The inspection was performed during testing of new Smart Tether technologies which will allow improved operation during ship hull inspections.

The test was performed using a VideoRay Pro 3 GTO ROV equipped with a KCF Technologies Smart Tether and a dual-frequency BlueView DF900-2250 SONAR. In this test and in previous tests, this equipment combination has been proven as a powerful inspection package, and KCF was able to obtain high-quality SONAR and visual images of the JFK's hull and several pier pilings.

The Smart Tether allows the operator to navigate the ROV even in zero-visibility situations, making it easy to maneuver amongst various targets. The BlueView SONAR allows the operator to pick up targets at great distance, much farther away than could ever be seen with the camera. Finally, using the combination of the Smart Tether and BlueView, the operator can maneuver within visual range of a target and capture high-quality images of it using the VideoRay's camera and lighting. Navigation based purely on vision would be virtually impossible in a large environment such as this, where visibility is generally limited to 1-2 feet. The VideoRay Pro 3 GTO's additional thrust capability was particularly useful in this environment as the currents found in the Delaware River can be quite swift, and eddy currents coming off of the pier pilings make stabilizing the ROV a challenge.   Related Hull Inspection Story

JFK Hull Image	Pier Piling Image
JFK SONAR Image	Pier SONAR Image