Using Robotic Flying Nodes for Seabed Seismic Data

Flying nodes, a type of self-propelled robotic node, provide an alternative to ROV placed and cabled deployed nodes for the acquisition of ocean bottom seismic (OBS) data. The prime motivation for the development of such a system is to increase the efficiency at which the sensors can be deployed and recovered from the seabed, therefore reducing the overall cost of acquiring ocean bottom seismic (OBS) data.

This paper provides a brief description of the concept, looks at the benefits that using flying nodes could bring to the acquisition of OBS and some of the application areas for flying nodes. The paper then looks at the challenges of developing such a system and how technological developments in other fields are helping to solve some of these challenges.