Japan’s growing offshore wind industry is gaining a Saab Seaeye Cougar XTi underwater robotic vehicle for cable burial inspection and other roles. Kaiyo Engineering has acquired the 2000m rated Cougar for deployment from a 250-ton mother ship, the Kaiyo Maru.
Kaiyo Maru is one of a fleet of vessels belonging to Kaiyo Engineering, the only privately owned research and observation company in Japan.
The Cougar XTi adds to Kaiyo’s portfolio of Saab Seaeye robots that include a Leopard and a Falcon.
In addition to its cable inspection role, the Cougar will also be used by Kaiyo Engineering to cover additional Leopard work.
Kaiyo’s Cougar comes with four Imenco cameras, a Tritech SeaKing sonar, Nortek DVL and station-keeping software, and a five-function heavy-duty manipulator with a camera. Its intelligent iCON behavior-based ecosystem endows each device with its own microprocessor for individual control and real-time feedback, in a modular future-flexible system that allows for further development and innovation.
The entire Kaiyo Cougar XTi operational configuration includes a launch and recovery system (LARS), tether management system (TMS) and 20ft control cabin and workshop.