Virtual prototyping of offshore operations: a review

ABSTRACT Virtual prototyping of offshore operations (VPOO) is performed to plan and validate planning of infrequent or demanding operations characterized by high risk and low margins of error in hostile and remote environments distant from emergency response bases that require expensive equipment. Key elements of VPOO is the rapidity of virtual prototyping and the human-centric approach necessitating high quality visuals and real-time time-domain simulation. This survey reviews publications, commercial software and simulators, and regulations on offshore operations. Findings indicate that the VPOO is not common in the industry, offshore operation regulations lag behind the state of the art in industry in terms of mission planning, and this field has been subject to scarce commercial and scientific scrutiny so far. A discussion of future developments and trends concludes the paper.