Engineers equip robots to fight wild sea waves, slashing offshore energy costs

Autonomously working robots stationed on offshore platforms can predict waves and facilitate more efficient operation of energy-generating equipment. New computational tools developed by researchers at the University of Edinburgh could help these robots work even in turbulent seas, delivering safety and cost-effectiveness at the same time, a press release said.

Offshore wind platforms are a major source of clean energy for countries looking to move away from fossil fuels. Unlike their onshore counterparts, offshore wind turbines are larger and can tap into high-speed winds at sea.

Work is also ongoing to develop tidal wave energy converters that can serve as a more reliable and continuous source of energy. But working in these harsh conditions has its downfalls. Worker safety is a prime concern, while environmental conditions demand that energy-generating infrastructure be serviced in a timely manner.

This is where robots can help, but the unpredictable nature of waves makes it difficult to deploy robots in such conditions. The tools developed by researchers at the University of Edinburgh address this shortcoming while helping reduce the costs of generating clean, green energy .

What did the researchers do? The computational and experimental tools developed by the engineering team at Edinburgh help autonomous robots maintain steady positions even when encountering irregular waves.

"A major limitation at present is robots robots ability to perceive and counteract environmental disturbances effectively, which fundamentally restricts the current use of small subsea vehicles," explained Kyle Walker, a doctoral candidate at the University who was involved in the work.

"By forming a prediction of future wave disturbances and integrating this within the control system, we're able to expand this range with little to no change to the robot hardware."

To help the robot perform this function, wave-detecting sensors must be tethered to the seafloor near offshore platforms. These sensors measure the height and direction of incoming waves and relay them to the robot in real-time. The robot can predict the arrival of the waves at its location and take countering action to maintain itself in a stable position.

How will this help? The researchers used the university's Flowave testing tank using data from a buoy in the North Sea. This helped mimic the conditions under which robots deployed in the future will work.

With their current tools, the researchers found that the system works for robots that work near the surface and at greater depths. "In terms of translating this technology into the field, this is a huge benefit and makes our system applicable to most vehicles currently available on the market," Walker added in the press release .

The ability to predict the waves and act preemptively performs better than the corrective action approach used in conventional systems.

For future work, the team is looking to add autonomous tasks such as using robotic arms to fix electric equipment while holding positions in the water.

"Increasing the use of autonomous robots to help maintain offshore renewable installations could have a transformative effect on cutting the cost of producing clean energy," said Francesco Giorgio-Serchi, associate professor at the University.

"Advancing this technology further could help bring about a step change in the adoption of unmanned robots at sea and drastically increase the degree of automation in the offshore sector."