With the rapid development of ocean exploration, underwater robot ROV, and deepwater aquaculture industries, the pain points of ordinary underwater cables with high self weight and easy sinking and dragging equipment are becoming increasingly prominent. As a special type of underwater cable, Buoyant Cable is becoming a key supporting product in underwater signal transmission solutions.
Buoyant cables differ from conventional watertight cables in that the core innovation lies in the use of foamed TPU material in the sheath layer, which adjusts the overall density using the internal microporous structure of the material to achieve near neutral buoyancy characteristics. The cable will not sink rapidly or float excessively in the water, and can move flexibly with underwater equipment, greatly reducing the drag resistance during ROV and underwater sensor operation, and reducing the risk of cable pulling and breakage.
Real application cases：
- Small observation ROV tethered communication
The Brazilian offshore ocean observation project uses single-layer buoyancy cables of the same specifications as the mooring signal line for small detection ROVs. ROV swims back and forth in the range of 10-50 meters underwater, with the buoyancy cable in a suspended state. It will not fall to the seabed and be scratched by rocks, nor will it stretch or pull the body upwards. It will transmit real-time underwater images, water temperature, and salinity sensing data, and the entire cable system will work stably for a long time.
- Underwater sensor array networking
The offshore hydrological monitoring project involves multiple sets of water quality and flow velocity sensors deployed in the observation area, connected in series by buoyancy cables. The cable is suspended in the designated water layer and will not sink to the bottom with the ocean currents, reducing the difficulty of maintenance and salvage in the later stage, and continuously transmitting long-term ocean monitoring data to the shore based platform.
