PROFILE
Robotic Drilling Systems
European oil & gas
europeanoilandgas.co.uk
Inset Deck robot to act as a cross between a drill-floor worker and a tugger. Multisize gripper with 1500 kg lifting capacity. Multiple tools with automatic change available
RoboRig The future of drilling has received Below Picture shows the world's first fully robotized drilling structure. This prototype has been run successfully over 200 times
a reboot with the introduction of an innovative autonomous robotic drilling rig for unmanned land, offshore and deepwater drilling operations. The electric robots are designed to sit on any drill-floor, setting new standards in quality, safety and efficiency. Robotic Drilling Systems (RDS) has a proud history forming from Seabed Rig A/S, a company that first began in 2005 developing a drilling rig to be submerged at the seabed for cost-effective drilling in deep waters and Arctic areas. The Stavanger based business then began to work on the robotic drill design that would change the future of drilling with implementation possible on existing and new drilling structures, both offshore and on land. In an interview with European Oil and Gas Magazine Kenneth Søndervik, vice-president of sales and marketing, explained: “We saw that any tools developed for use 3000m below the surface on the seabed could be
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easily implemented on the topside.” RDS was successful in securing an information-sharing agreement with NASA, based around the technologies used on the Curiosity Mars Rover. The agreement allowed the business to case study the Mars Rover to create an efficient autonomous robotic system based on those operated by NASA. More sophisticated than those seen in other manufacturing industries today, Kenneth says: “The software suites that we created do more than just carry out preprogrammed tasks. One big difference between an automated system and a robotic system is the latter can be re-programmed to do something else, but will still be governed by moving at preprogrammed paths. “Our system takes a different approach. Sometimes it is more efficient to move from A to C to B, and next time it’s more efficient to move from A to B, so the robots will always calculate and execute the most efficient path. The system does not require the operator to give several