International Submarine Engineering (Canada)

Operational experience from the Russo-Ukrainian War revealed frequent use of tourniquets that were not medically indicated and an increase in ischemic complications from prolonged tourniquet application as a consequence of extended evacuation times. In response to this, the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care (CoTCCC) convened a working group to evaluate whether tourniquet reassessment and conversion practices should extend to the All Service Member (ASM) level. With input from NATO and partner nations, the Working Group developed a standardized, time-based algorithm that provides plain language guidance for reassessment, repositioning, and conversion. The proposed change replaces the term replacement with repositioning, affirms a reassessment window within 2 hours for nonmedical personnel, and limits conversion beyond 2 hours to medical personnel. These updates will expand lifesaving capability to nonmedical responders, reduce preventable morbidity and mortality from tourniquet use, and align TCCC principles with current operational realities.

of ATEL, LLC, combines 20+ years of research and teaching practice with extensive experience in writing curricula and developing educational software. He is the author of an innovative concept of multi-layered simulation-based conceptual teaching of science and technology. This instructional approach uses real-world objects, processes and learning situations that are familiar to students as the context for virtual science and technology investigations. To facilitate this methodology for corporate and military training, and academic education, his company developed a new ground-breaking e-learning solutions and relevant authoring tools. Yakov holds an M.S. in Experimental Physics, and Ph.D. in

Abstract The objective of the paper is to present the manner in which the Oil & Gas Industry has evolved and how this evolution has impacted the trend in pipeline installation methodologies. The content for the paper is based on authors’ personal experience within the various installation contractors that he had worked for and observation in the industry spanning 4 decades, as well as research on the evolution of the design of production facilities and how this evolution has impacted the various installation methodologies. The research pertains to both on-line research as well as discussions with various experts working for the various installation contractors, including authors’ employer. The findings from the study show that changes in design codes have been made to cope with increasing demands for deep-water facilities. The changes in design code has allowed for pipelines to be installed deeper, in particular for conventional S-Lay methods, as well as pave the way for other installation methodologies, such as Reel-Lay. Other novel methods have also been invented, such as the Controlled Depth Tow Method, although this method had evolved not as a result of the changes in code but innovative ideas that allow for deep-water installation with little impact on pipeline stresses. The findings from the study shows that pipelines are being installed in deeper waters as a result of improvement in design such as shorter stinger radius, which allows for pipeline to leave the lay vessel almost vertically, increased lay tension capacities, advanced welding and NDT techniques and so on. Changes in design codes have contributed to the accomplishment of deep-water pipe-laying. In addition, the trends for pipeline installation are discussed, as well as gaps and opportunities for future development.

The overall signature of a vessel comprises acoustic, magnetic, electric-field, pressure, and seismic radiations. Over the past years, the international community’s efforts have mainly centered on reducing the acoustic influence with the dual aim of decreasing the vessel’s detectability and reducing the levels of acoustic pollution generated in the marine environment. Nowadays, the need to act not only on the acoustic radiation but against the overall set of the vessel’s radiations is becoming increasingly clear, both in the military and the civilian fields, based on aspects like vessel stealthiness, security of harbor and critical infrastructures, and environmental protection. As a key element to achieve this goal, it is greatly important to have at our disposal highly modular and adaptable measurement systems covering the overall set of the vessel’s radiations, with a high capacity of data transmission to base centers to have the capacity to make measurements in all kinds of marine environments.

The Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) community has for many years recognized the potential benefits made by adapting mission planning on-the-fly. Over the years there has been some degree of success in applying adaptive mission planning to very specific problems. Examples of applications include capabilities for a vehicle to search for, and then modify its trajectory to follow, a feature such as a plume or a thermocline, or to modify its trajectory to avoid an obstacle, or to find and follow a feature such as a pipeline. Despite an evident increase in the number of applications, the use of adaptive mission planning is still in its infancy. There is no doubt that adaptive mission planning will play a pivotal role in future AUV persistent presence. So what is delaying this technology from making the leap towards wider industry acceptance? This paper reviews the literature in adaptive mission planning and uses a failure analysis technique to identify key obstacles for the integration of this technique in wider AUV applications. We use our failure analysis to help devise recommendations for mitigating these obstacles. The complexity of the mathematical approaches used by adaptive techniques is one key obstacle. Perhaps of more importance is that the AUV community is increasingly requiring quantitative assessment of risk associated with the use of AUVs. We propose that probability is the appropriate measure for quantifying the risk of adaptive systems and their uncertainty. The work here presented is a collective endeavor of the Engineering Committee on Oceanic Resources Specialist Panel on Underwater Vehicles.

A series of full-scale zigzag manoeuvring trials were performed using a streamlined Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) - the MUN Explorer AUV during the summer of 2006. This paper presents the results and observations from the zigzag manoeuvres or the Z-tests performed in horizontal planes. Unlike the conventional method of performing a Z-test, these zigzags were performed by allowing the vehicle to follow a predefined path that was laid out in a zigzag pattern. The paper outlines briefly the method by which these tests were conducted and discusses the observations made.

Manoeuvring trials are usually performed to determine the manoeuvring characteristics of a marine vehicle. It is through certain standard manoeuvres we evaluate the robustness, performance and limitations of the vehicle control system. A series of open-water manoeuvring trials were performed using the MUN Explorer AUV in the summer of 2006. The actual purpose of these experiments was to collect a set of experimental data in order to validate a hydrodynamic model of the dynamic performance of the vehicle. This paper presents the results and observations from the analysis of a set of manoeuvring trials data: in particular the results from straight- line (acceleration - deceleration) tests and turning circles. It outlines briefly the method by which these tests were conducted and discusses the results and observations made. Apart from providing a data set for validation purposes, the results also indicate the ability of the vehicle to follow a pre-planned mission with precision.

Object-oriented programming techniques are used to implement a layered software architecture for the planning and execution of autonomous vehicle missions. The ease of programming and the flexibility in mission planning are ensured by breaking down a complex system into small and functionally independent components, while the efficiency in execution is provided by a fast preemptive scheduler and event propagation kernel. Events are initiated by components and in turn trigger the scheduling of action procedures in other components. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated in a system prototype involving embedded microprocessor systems, AT-compatible computers, digital signal processors and various types of communication channels.

ABSTRACT The philosophy and technique of ocean bottom imaging and map making is changing as new undersea remote sensing technology provides more versatile equipment with variable resolution. Integrated towed systems can now simultaneously provide quantified acoustic backscatter images, swath bathymetry and multi-spectral echo soundings from a towed vehicle over a wide range of altitude, swath width, and water depth. This data base allows geological facies mapping and hazard evaluation to be made with a single system and a minimum of ship time in the survey area. System resolution is no longer simply maximized; it is care full selected and traded off with survey data on a mission by mission basis to optimize survey efficiency and minimize cost of the off shore operation. Graphs are presented which show how mapping system resolution varies as a function of system bandwidth, tow speed, and the geometric relationship between the tow is hand the swath of bottom to be imaged and contoured. This information is necessary for designing survey strategy and selecting the optimum mapping system for the job. The Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory have been using Sea MARC instrumentation systems successfully for several years. Both systems have worked in water depths from 50 to 5000 meters and together have covered over 100,000 square kilometers of ocean bottom with cruises funded by government agencies, industrial firms and foreign governments. Variables with multi-sensor remote characterization of the ocean bottom is a cost effective way to increase our understanding of geologic processes. A tremendous increase in information gathered for a given amount of ship?s time can be realized with this new technology, both for scientific and commercial purpose. SEEING THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA Ever since mankind emerged from the sea, learned to walk on two legs and how to swim again, trying to 'see' the bottom of the ocean has been one of our most frustrating activities. Furthermore, we have been spoiled by the efficiency of our human visual system in air; not only does it have angular resolution better than one minute of arc but it is intimately connected to the most sophisticated image processing and tracking system we know of our brain. Beneath the sea surface the propagation medium is not so accommodating. With the exception of a 'window' in the green light region of the spectrum, seawater is essentially opaque to electromagnetic energy, and most of the sophisticate imaging equipment (either optical or radar) which has been developed for use from aircraft can not see more than a few meters beneath the sea even in clear water. All submarine optical systems, whether based on conventional cameras or laser scanners with range gated receivers, are also fatally dependent on water clarity. Since only acoustic energy propagates relatively well through water, sonar based imaging systems are used to extend our vision underwater in the way that optics thermal and radar imaging systems have been used to extend our vision on land and in space.