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Mark explained his role and involvement with regards to the seminar, industry challenges and developments, what he is looking forward to at the event and why it is important to attend.
Q: Briefly explain your role and involvement within Robotics and Autonomous Systems in Offshore Wind?
Mark Emerton (ME): With a background in Robotics & Autonomous Systems, but not in the Offshore Wind industry, I’m an Innovation Lead for Robotics & AI at Innovate UK, part of UK Research & Innovation. The Innovation Leads are required to bring a level of technical expertise to particular subjects and apply that to setting the scope of funding competitions, monitoring and supporting the companies we fund, and influencing public sector strategies in our fields.
The main area of robotics funding from Innovate UK currently is through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) Robotics for a Safer World. Offshore Wind forms a significant part of this programme, as the financial and human-safety case for using robotic and autonomous systems in this industry is so compelling.
Q: What is the number one challenge for those using or benefitting from these technologies in today’s current market?
ME: I believe scaling RAS concepts into production and widespread and routine use for inspection and maintenance tasks will become the biggest challenge for many of the businesses we support. The pace of innovation currently is fast, and the ORE Catapult has fantastic facilities available for testing and demonstrating these systems, but the gap at the moment is taking that one-off demonstrator and scaling that for use across the 1000s of turbines in UK waters.
Q: What is the most exciting development in this field at the moment, either within your company or in the industry in general?
ME: That a number of UK innovators, supported by Innovate UK and the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, are completing RAS demonstrations at sea over the next 24 months. This will mean that numerous technologies and concepts of use will be tested in the flesh, with cost-effectiveness and the quality of captured data assessed. These projects include RAS which carry out X-ray inspections of blades, ultrasonic cleaning of biofouling on turbine monopiles and ROV’s operated from Autonomous Surface Vessels rather than crewed vessels. All exciting developments and we hope many of these demonstrations will lead to significant growth of UK businesses.
Q: Where do you see the future of Robotics and Autonomous Systems in Offshore Wind going in the next 5 to 10 years?
ME: Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) RAS operations for inspection tasks. This should remove the requirement for humans on vessels just to control Unmanned Aircraft, ROVs or other robotic platforms. This might not mean ‘full autonomy’, but within 5 to 10 years we should be keeping more humans on shore, operating platforms and analysing data in safety and comfort.
Q: What key things can attendees expect to learn from your presentation?
ME: How the UK’s Industrial Strategy is being delivered by the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, what the Robotics for a Safer World programme is about and what it has already achieved, what is going on in Robotics in other industries such as Nuclear.
Q: What other presentations or topics are you looking forward to hearing more about at the forthcoming seminar?
ME: At UKRI I’m in a fortunate position to already know of many of the ongoing R&D projects from the UK’s innovators that are represented in the morning session. It’ll be great to hear more from them, but it’s the after-lunch session on ‘Implementation of RAS in Offshore Wind’ that will be most interesting for me.
Q: Why do you feel it is important for professionals to join this seminar?
ME: For those developing RAS, it’ll be important to attend to keep abreast of the state of the art, and network with others in the industry and the potential customers in Offshore Wind Inspection & Maintenance. For those in the Offshore Industry, it’ll be valuable to meet some of the UK’s leading RAS innovators in the offshore space.
Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) in Offshore Wind Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Services takes place on 23 May 2019 at One Birdcage Walk, London.
Join this seminar to:
- Hear from leading organisations about the challenges facing the delivery of Offshore Wind O&M services and opportunities for cost reduction and health and safety improvements
- Understand how Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) can reduce OPEX and improve energy generation and health and safety
- Learn about the latest developments in RAS applied to Offshore Wind O&M and ongoing demonstration projects
- Meet and discuss with RAS experts including leading academic, research and test centres and end users in the offshore wind industry
- Ask key questions about how RAS can be applied to your specific operations and maintenance needs during the Q&A sessions following each presentation
To book your place, please visit www.imeche.org/offshorewind.