Robots are facing the offshore energy sector in many ways.
FREMONT, CA: There could be many advantages that businesses can attain from robotics. But offshore wind turbine structures and platforms are challenging places to put them on. For oil and gas, vital drivers are safety and cost. For the offshore wind sector, the large volume of deployed structures drives a shoot for robotic systems to do the inspection, maintenance, and maintenance work safely, efficiently, and cost-effectively.
Automated robotic roughnecks and pipe handling systems have recently been launched to drill floors. In addition, aerial drones and magnetic hull crawling robots have become part of the offshore monitoring tool kit in the last few years, mostly with a human operator. Some principal steps have also been made into topside robotics, such as quadruped crawlers and solutions for concerns around hydrogen sulfide. These systems can act rapidly in response to the gas leak.
Robotics take workers out of harmful environments and can work more efficiently. They could also aid meet net-zero emissions objectives, lowering the requirement for helicopter flights. But offshore facilities are not modeled for robotics, and robotics can't function. Simple things, like climbing stairs, robots can't. In a production plant, everything is static and controlled. It is seamless to separate moving things from non-moving things and humans from robotics. Everything is linear, and there's no wind, waves, or currents to get in the way. Therefore, it is much easier to deploy automation.
The offshore wind's asset base is massive, and the challenge is getting to each turbine safely and efficiently. Wind turbine operators stress smart and automated systems that self-diagnose, but inspection will still be required. Another challenge is technology deployment. Technology barriers are the easiest to overcome. However, adoption could be more challenging with concerns about jobs or disrupting incumbent markets, such as the logistics and transportation for workers and equipment presently shipped around.
