• The HRI Difference

    Hawkes Remotes Inc. (HRI) is launching a new class of remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs). Our proprietary and patent-pending designs combine high-density battery power and fiber-optic control and communications to break through the cost, performance, and operational barriers that have limited the current generation of ROVs.

    By eliminating the use of bulky cables for power transport, HRI has eliminated the need for tether management systems (TMS) at all depths of operation, vastly reducing the cost of ROV operation, allowing both ROV operators and end-user customers to realize more profit and to get the job done more quickly, whatever the application is. HRI ROVs can be launched from any ship of opportunity, and you can operate multiple HRI ROVs from a single craft.

    A range of fiber-optic tethers, including both reusable and disposable options, provide high-bandwidth communications and control at depths up to full ocean depth, and at slant ranges as long as 20 kilometers. With none of the high drag associated with traditional tethers, HRI ROVs not only have greater range, but are much easier to operate than traditional ROV systems.

    Energy-dense lithium polymer batteries, field-tested and proven safe on manned submersibles, provide high power availability when and where you need it. With no tether drag to speak of, and no loss of power through transmission cables, all of the energy can be used to getting to the job site and getting the work done. Featuring 100kgf of forward thrust, HRI ROVs can get to speeds as high as 6 knots.

    HRI’s current lineup of ROVs includes systems optimized for deep water work, for long range survey and observation, and systems which combine work, observation, and range. With modular battery packs and high payload capacity, each system can be customized for your specific application.

  • Breaking Free of the Tether

    The biggest challenge and limitation that all current ROVs have is their tether. Until the physicists find a way to communicate in sufficiently high bandwidth through water – and lots of it – a physical connection is a requirement for doing work in the subsea environment.

    But the thick tethers in use create huge challenges and costs, which get even larger the deeper your target is. Fighting cable drag consumes a huge amount of power for current deep-water ROVs, and makes them cumbersome to navigate. Managing large cables requires, at most depths below 600m, expensive, large and weighty tether management systems, and large on-deck winch systems, which in turn require large ships for deployment.

    HRI’s ROVs break free of the limitations and costs of current generation ROVs and their tethers. Utilizing the combination of high-energy density batteries and thin, strong fiber-optic tethers paid out from the ROV, instead of the ship, HRI’s ROVs have eliminated the problem of cable drag once and for all. And, in the process, we’ve eliminated the need for expensive TMS and deck equipment, allowing ROV operators to deploy smaller craft, saving time and money – and increasing profit – for all concerned.

    Without the limits of cable drag, we take away the depth limits for free-swimming ROVs altogether. HRI’s ROV systems can go to full ocean depth, and have slant ranges of 20km.

  • The Power to Get the Job Done

    HRI is building powerful ROVs, with serious thrust and speed – our various models have 100kgf of thrust along the key vectors, and can hit in-water speeds of 4 to 6 knots. How does that compare to the systems you are now using?

    Current generation ROVs spend a lot of time trying to mask the serious issue (particularly in deep water) of the drag imposed by their cables. Thrust is almost always given as Bollard pull – how much thrust they’d have if they weren’t dragging their cables behind them. Speed ratings are provided as “open water” speeds these systems could achieve if they weren’t attached to a thick cable. But they are.

    With HRI’s ROVs, cable drag is a thing of the past, allowing for all of the thrust capability to be used for fast, agile, movement, or for work.

    Power isn’t just a matter of thrust. HRI’s battery systems pack some serious power – from 10 to 18kWh of energy in various configurations. That’s enough to fly for 20km or more, and to use serious tools for serious work. And, unlike the power that comes down long cables, we have instant access to peak power of 20kw and more, something ROVs using long extension cords just can’t offer.

  • Reliable, Safe and Easy to Use

    HRI’s ROVs are the latest systems to come from Graham Hawkes, designer of more than 30 manned and unmanned systems including the popular DOE Phantom ROV and the Challenger full ocean depth manned submersible. Our engineering heritage is based on building systems that stand the test of time, and are robust enough to entrust a human life to.

    Safety doesn’t stop with the quality of our engineering – the design of HRI’s ROVs makes them much safer than other ROV systems. There are no more high voltage power cables running from ship to ROV. There’s no need for heavy deck equipment and on-deck winches, all of which pose risk for injury.

    Ease of use comes along. By eliminating cable drag, we’ve made our ROVs much easier to operate and navigate effectively. This means less wasted time on the job and a more profitable mission.

  • A New Era for ROV Operations

    HRI is re-thinking the ROV, and just in time. With the search for resources moving ever deeper in our oceans, and the needs for inspection, survey and ongoing observation of deep water assets increasing all the time, something had to be done to reduce the high cost of ocean access – and we’ve done it.

    By reducing the cost of ownership, and the cost of operation, HRI puts tremendous power in your hands to get the subsea jobs you need to get done more easily, more quickly, and more profitably. Our systems are competitively priced, and don’t require the costly TMS systems other ROVs require for deep water work. But the cost advantages don’t end there. HRI ROVs can be deployed from ships of opportunity, at a much lower day rate than the boats required for other deep water ROVs, or, if you want, you can run multiple HRI ROVs from the same ship.

    Whether you operate ROVs for your own work, or to assist others, lower costs give you a fundamental advantage over your competition, and the ability to make more profit than users of what will soon be considered legacy systems.