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Deep diveROBOTICS

HydroBot Deep Dive: Underwater Autonomous Welding Swarms End the Era of Diver-Dependent Deep-Sea Pipeline Repair

Deep-sea engineering company AquaForge's HydroBot underwater autonomous welding swarm completes its first commercial pipeline repair project in the North Sea, with three HydroBots autonomously performing cutting and welding on a 30-inch natural gas pipeline at 200 meters depth, operating five times more efficiently than divers while completely eliminating human underwater work risks.

HydroBot Deep Dive: Underwater Autonomous Welding Swarms

Deep-sea engineering company AquaForge announced on August 28 that its HydroBot underwater autonomous welding swarm successfully completed its first commercial subsea pipeline repair project in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. Three HydroBots autonomously performed cutting and welding of a damaged section of 30-inch natural gas pipeline at 200 meters depth over 72 hours, with no divers entering the water.

HydroBot is a cylindrical robot 1.2 meters in diameter weighing approximately 500 kilograms. The system features high-precision sonar positioning, underwater vision (including laser scanning), and a multifunctional work arm. The welding module uses underwater friction stir welding technology, generating friction heat through a high-speed rotating welding head at the pipe joint to achieve metallurgical bonding in the solid state, avoiding porosity and cracking issues of traditional underwater arc welding.

"Subsea pipeline repair is one of the most dangerous operations in marine engineering," said Olav Berg, AquaForge's engineering director. "Divers can work for no more than 4 hours at 200 meters depth and then need days of decompression. HydroBot can work underwater continuously for 72 hours with no depth limitations."

HydroBot's workflow proceeds in four phases: first, sonar and laser scanning create a 3D model of the damaged pipeline area; then the AI system plans cutting and welding paths; next the first HydroBot performs the cutting operation to remove the damaged section; finally, the second and third HydroBots collaborate to align and weld the new pipe section.

Welding quality is monitored in real-time by an ultrasonic inspection system embedded in the welding module, automatically generating quality reports after each weld. AquaForge states that HydroBot's welded joints have been certified by DNV (Det Norske Veritas) for strength and seal integrity, meeting subsea pipeline safety standards.

The North Sea currently has over 12,000 kilometers of subsea oil and gas pipelines requiring approximately 200 repair operations annually. AquaForge has secured long-term service contracts with Equinor and Shell, planning to deploy 20 HydroBots across major North Sea operational areas by 2029.