Subsea pressure compensated actuators

08 April 2020

maxon Aquatic Solutions, part of the global maxon Group, recently launched a range of pressure compensators for Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs) and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs).

These are compensated to operate to depths to 6,000m and are highly efficient and reliable.

“Customers were asking for thrusters but without the propeller,” explained the Aquatic Solutions team, “We listened to their requirements and developed a range for their needs.”

A customer contacted maxon for a subsea inspection application. The units were driving sensors for the monitoring of corrosion on the various types of subsea structure.

From the detailed specification, a motor and gearbox combination were derived to deliver the output requirements from the input supply. Then, it was over to the design engineers to package them into the oil-filled housing and to detail the other modifications that the customer had requested. The result was a top-level drawing that was sent to the customer for approval.

Many industries are moving away from hydraulic actuation towards electro-mechanical actuation. maxon offers both rotary and linear actuation solutions for the subsea arena. Rotary could be motor only for high-speed low torque applications or motor gearbox for lower speed higher torque applications. By utilising the maxon screw drive products, maxon can also supply linear actuators to suit a variety of speed and load applications. Applications such as grippers, manipulators, fin actuation and propulsion.

maxon has a history of supplying products into very challenging environments, be that subsea, underground, in the air or on Mars. These environments give it a wide range of different challenges, shock and vibration, high temperature, low temperature and vacuum environments. maxon has invested in a large suite of test equipment to validate products to these challenging conditions. It is important for maxon’s customers that the company remains a safe pair of hands delivering products that work wherever its customers need it to operate.

If you have a subsea requirement contact maxon UK & Ireland at – andrew.gibson@maxongroup.com or +44 01189 733 337