1.4  Define the Parameters for the Inspection

Each mission will require an analysis of the requirements and determination of the appropriate settings to use during the inspection to achieve the objectives.

The following information will be relevant to conducting the inspection.

• Visibility of the water.
  • This will determine the distance of the ROV from the pier and spacing between successive passes.
• Length of the pier section to be inspected.
• This will determine whether the inspection can be conducted from one deployment site or several set ups will required.
• Whether there is crossbracing between the pilings and if so, it's orietation.
  • This will be used to determine the optimal route for moving from piling to piling.
• The size of each pile.
  • This will be used to determine how many passes will be needed for each pile.

Recommended Settings:

• Distance from the Pier Piling: ~ 0.7 times the visibility
• Pass (transect) spacing: ~ 1.3 times the visibility (provides 10% overlap with previous passes).

These settings can be made during the steps that follow for setting the Waypoint Defaults and placing waypoints.

The above guidelines are recommended starting points and can be modified as appropriate for the operation.

For very long piers, the area can be broken down into smaller overlapping regions.