Episode 49: Adding Autonomy to ROVs

Artificial Intelligence is developing at a dizzying pace. One day soon, its proponents promise, it will revolutionise the way we work. The growth of AI could lead to the birth of ‘cobots’, robots able to collaborate safely with humans in shared spaces. But the development of machine autonomy and remote operations has much deeper roots. The goal of robotics has been described as replacing humans in roles that are dirty, dangerous, or dull. Offshore work can often meet all of these criteria. Bringing surveyors to offshore sites on a fossil fuelled vessel is, in carbon terms, dirty. These expert personnel will spend at least some part of the voyage on dull tasks, in between the work they are trained for. And any work offshore carries some level of danger that must be managed carefully. Fugro has developed remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs, that can be launched from uncrewed surface vessels. This eliminates dull and dangerous working offshore, and makes a move away from dirty carbon emissions possible. But remotely operated vehicles face challenges at sea. They must react quickly to changing conditions, and data transmission limits underwater restrict the ability of remote operators to respond in time. In this episode, first aired in March 2023, Jon Baston-Pitt is joined by Fugro’s Mark Bruce, and the National Robotarium’s Yvan Petillot. The conversation took place shortly after a first successful test of remotely operated systems, that will allow ROVs to work efficiently, responding to changes in their environment without human intervention. Host Jon Baston-Pitt Guests Yvan Petillot, Professor of Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Heriot Watt University; joint academic lead, The National Robotarium. Mark Bruce, Product Owner, Next Generation ROVs, Fugro