Aker BP Partners with Cognite Introducing Robotics into Oil and Gas Sector
The oil and gas industry has always been at the forefront of innovation. Cognite, an industrial provider of SaaS across the globe that deals with the full-scale transformation of heavy industry, has partnered with Aker BP, one of Europe’s foremost oil and gas companies. The aim is to integrate robotics into Aker BP’s operations, most importantly in high-risk scenarios such as offshore exploration and drilling. By harnessing robotics, the company hopes to provide a safer working environment for employees.
Testing Commences
Drones and other robots will form the basis of the companies’ integration, and they will be performing suitability tests within the North Sea region during 2020. It is hoped that the robotics system will be able to do autonomous inspection and generation of reports, as well as data capture for off-site personnel to verify results. The end goal is to implement robotics in a way that keeps humans out of harm’s way. By offering onshore personnel a remote view of potentially dangerous locations with high-quality data capture, the robots operate as an expendable intermediary, ensuring staff safety in hazardous situations such as aerial and underwater inspections. Among the robots that Cognite has slated to test is the Boston Dynamics robotic quadruped, Spot.
Combining the Cloud with Robotics
Cognite’s premier software suite is called Cognite Data Fusion (CDF) and serves as a cloud-based repository for industrial-based data and operations. At the moment, this software integrates seamlessly with several IT and OT applications in the cloud, as well as edge and on-premise interfaces. CDF helps businesses enrich their technical data allowing companies to make more evidence-based decisions to increase the efficiency of their operations. Thanks to the use of robots to pick up remote data and compile it within CDF, Aker BP’s engineers will have access to an extensive data set from which they can extract insights to improve the company’s efficiency and safety record.