drones

Robots have been a part of industrial production for decades, but the interface between humans and robots has changed as automation technologies increased in complexity, scope, and scale. Once a novelty, collaborative robots are projected to become a significant element of the automation landscape.

Drones will be just one of the tools that the service company uses in its drive toward net-zero carbon emissions.

One of the more significant benefits of drones in the field to date has been their ability to improve safety in the field.

Subsea inspection/repair/maintenance services have traditionally relied on vessel-based, ROV, or diver operations. In the longer term, identifying significant incremental savings in these operations is not sustainable and an innovative approach deploying digital technologies is being investigated.

Venture groups spend their time evaluating hundreds of companies each year to only make a handful of investments. These two cover interesting ends of the upstream spectrum: aerial drones and downhole artificial lift.

Ground sensors on assets over a broad area have limited returns on investment if the asset life cycle is less than 10 years, and obsolescence of the technology if it exceeds 10 years. Complementing sensors with aerial remote sensing at scale may help to mitigate these issues.

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are lightweight, low-cost aircraft platforms operated from the ground that can be outfitted with imaging or nonimaging payloads. UASs offer health, safety, and environment professionals a promising opportunity to reduce risks by keeping people out of harm’s way.

Iraq plans to use drones to monitor and protect its oil export and production pipelines from the first quarter of 2018, an oil ministry spokesman said on 18 December.

Intel and Cyberhawk released a case study outlining the successful inspection of a gas terminal near the coast of Scotland using commercially available drone technology.

As companies begin examining facilities in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, commercial drones have become a valuable asset in reaching flooded areas too dangerous for people to reach.