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The O&G Invasion of Robotics

If asked, most professionals of the oil and gas industry would likely say that the next big thing in the sector will be enhanced oil recovery (EOR), operation systems along with their new platforms and big data.

Sure enough, all three are experiencing a surge in popularity, particularly among top companies but another progression that is surprising and perhaps therefore even more exiting is robotics.

Robotics is a sector of technology that has grown tremendously within the last few decades, appearing particularly strong on the production side – a perfect fit for dull, dirty and dangerous tasks. They have improved the process by eliminating inaccuracies and speeding up production, resulting in massive efficiency maximisation over traditional methods. A number of other industries, such as medicine, surveillance and transportation have also recognised the benefits and employed it permanently.

They have of course, made an appearance in the O&G industry too, but today advanced robotics seem to be making more impact than ever before. There is particular news coming from Norway, where the first snake robot for remote underwater use is in development. Equipped with a camera, it is the first of its kind and is meant to exist permanently underwater, where it will perform intervention tasks. Under current circumstances, these operations would require expensive equipment to be deployed to get human divers to reach the faulty unit. When any incident occurs the robot will be able to not only conduct inspections and cleaning but also operate valves and chokes.

This field of sub sea O&G robotics is completely new as the existing models are onshore only. With robotics being such a complex technology, Dashboard believes its development will subsequently lead to newer, more efficient synergetic parts, such as sensors and various additional attachments. We look forward to seeing the effect the subsea snake robot will have on the industry and its evolution.