(Natural Energy News): The 21st century has provided us with a lot of techniques from the science-fiction of the past. And at this cutting edge of modern innovation, robotics is certainly one of the most promising fields.
In fact, technology related to robotics has proved to be one of the most widespread contemporary innovations.
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There are a lot of sectors and industries where robotics is set to revolutionize the way we currently do things - from housekeeping to gas and oil. Currently, we will focus on the latter. Dive into it, without any adjectives.
Ups and Downs
In the last ten years, things have surprisingly been good for the oil and gas world. In fact, oil prices have often surpassed the $ 100 mark (per barrel).
These growing profits have their different sides, however. One of them is the fact that operational productivity has not actually improved for ages - that is, as of 2014.
In the second half of 2014, oil prices began to decline dramatically, and have not since returned to their previous levels. The inefficiencies that flowed under the previously horrific profits are now painfully visible.
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Why are we talking about this? Because engineering consultants are increasingly pointing to robotics as a solution to the growing inefficiency in the oil and gas world. In the future, growth in this area may not be solid without reliance on automation.
Robotic Application
Robotic technologies have various applications in the oil and gas industries. In most cases, these rudimentary robots are designed to automate a specific task - but one that is usually dangerous and/or repetitive.
For example, the connection of different sections of drill pipe under seawater and under rocks is one such work.
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There are robots that handle it rather than human oil; Not only providing more efficiency to the company but allowing better safety conditions when it involves human workers who are on the actual rig.
From automated aerial drones and robot drills to autonomous vehicles that operate underwater, there are also many applications.
All these reduce the amount of downtime on the seabed - and any downtime at such sites is extremely expensive.
For this purpose, robots are important and extremely useful; Handling tasks that humans would otherwise have to do on their own gives a great productivity boost.
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In the last six years, robotics has certainly found its place in the oil and gas industries. However, they are still not quite mainstream; Many companies are struggling to adapt to new technologies.
However, operating costs are forcing many to look at such a new front; Not to mention the increasingly worrisome safety conditions for those driving the rigs.
Start of Automation
While it may seem that robotics is only finding its place in the gas and oil industries - this is indeed far from the truth. In reality, robotics started coming back to the field in the 1950s. During that decade, the first machines that had a fraction of robotics were used in the oil industry.
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Originally, MOBOT - as it was called - was to be used in nuclear plants. Its main objective was to enable humans to handle monthly tasks in radioactive areas from a safe distance. It was a stunning cable boast that was over 200 feet long!
While its original purpose was in nuclear facilities, the machine proves to be more influential in the gas and oil fields. Shell oil began using an adapted version for underwater operation in this machine during the next decade.
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In particular, MOBOT was used to perform assembly tasks on top of oil wells. When it was successfully deployed, there would be no need to send human workers into dangerous and deep environments so that they could labour.
However, in this environment, MOBOT distanced itself from Perfect. More often than not, it will get stuck and human divers will have to go down to retrieve it.
On the other hand, robots were not used only for surface activities in the oil and gas industries. The increased demand for robotic automation in various environments led to robots taking on other tasks - such as inspection duties.
For the last fifteen years, many research and engineering teams working for the oil and gas fields have been working under hazardous conditions to reduce the risk of humans.
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The current wave of robotics research in these fields began in 2005. Since then, several teams have worked on general-purpose robots that were designed to carry out maintenance tasks on all types of infrastructure for oil and gas.
However, while these first-generation robots were sold in large numbers - at the end of the day, they were not as important as everyone thought.
They were not favourable in the field - that is why engineers started working on niche models. These will be designed for specific tasks from the get-go, eliminating the need to program them in the field.
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In extreme conditions, it's far safer for robots to perform dial readings, check valves and gauge positions; to not mention things like monitoring harmful gases to potentially dangerous concentrations.
Be Safe
In the last decade and a half, robots have begun to enter the forefront of the oil and gas industry. As mechanical automation becomes more and more perfect, robotics will continue to play an increasingly larger role in hazardous field conditions.
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