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and learning from the outcomes. De- tially for 12 months onshore at its Shet- and enable preventative action. Another ployment is key to learning what these land Gas Plant (see Q&A on page 28), Taurob project, Offshore Work Class robotic systems can and can’t do.” while in Norway Aker BP has plans to Robot, also currently in development

A similar ethos is likely to persist for trial a number of systems, including a and co-funded by the OGTC, Total and topsides-based robotics – for oil and gas Boston Dynamics Spot quadruped, on Equinor, is adding manipulator capabil- and offshore wind. Here, concepts are the Skarv ?oating production vessel, ity to the vehicle, says Bell. even more divergent. Some steps have and Oxford Robotics Institute has been Over in Norway, Aker BP and data been made in this area. testing an adapted ANYmal quadruped

In 2017, OC Robotic’s snake arm ro- for its suitability offshore at a ?re train- bot (a tracked vehicle with an arm able to ing center. enter pressure vessels), was billed as the A lot of the work done to date has ?rst offshore robot when it was trialled been enabling vehicles to navigate on Chevron’s Alba platform in 2017, around a site – known and unknown, then, in 2018, the quadruped ANYmal with visual aids, eg. cameras, lidar, in- robot made a debut on a Dutch offshore ertial measurement units, arti?cial intel- wind converter station. ligence etc. Taurob’s latest robot, devel- oped with Total, will add gas detection

Time for trials capability, as well as microphones with

Total is now getting closer to trialling algorithms to detect frequencies from a robot co-developed with Taurob, ini- valves and pumps to spot anomalies

JULY/AUGUST 2020 OFFSHORE ENGINEER 23