Cyberhawk has secured a 5-year, multimillion-dollar software contract with Shell, becoming the first and only drone-based operator granted full global aviation approval across all Shell facilities, according to Cyberhawk. Cyberhawk’s iHawk cloud-based asset visualization software will also become Shell’s visualization software platform for all onshore, offshore, and subsea assets, as well as all global construction projects.
Cyberhawk will support Shell’s digital transformation strategy, providing a central platform for all digital and visual data sources. iHawk will also provide a fully enabled Internet of Things (IoT) solution, integrating third-party sensors and application program interfaces specifically developed for Shell, which completed a first-in-class drone audit in early June.
The contract continues the 8-year working relationship between the companies and follows the successful 2-year proof-of-concept integration of iHawk at a $6-million Shell construction project in the US.
In 2012, Cyberhawk performed the world’s-first underdeck inspection for Shell’s Brent Delta decommissioning project in the North Sea, with the aim of reducing human risk as well as costs through the use of drones.
With no available GPS signal while flying underdeck, the team could not employ automated functions; it relied heavily on piloting skills to perform several drone inspections of the platform over time.
In 2019, Shell’s engineers used Cyberhawk’s 3D photogrammetry model to assess design discrepancies prior to the Brent Delta decommissioning.