The Rise of Robotics in Oil and Gas

_ The upstream oil and gas sector has entered a new phase of automation. The robots are here, and they’re here to stay. While the industry’s digital transformation has centered mostly on supervisory control and data acquisition, distributed control systems, and predictive analytics, robotics has emerged as a physical extension of these digital capabilities, enabling inspection and intervention that had depended on manual labor. “They can go into places that you really wouldn’t want to send people,” said Ian Peerless, the founder and director of ExRobotics. Far from the humanoid machines popularized by Hollywood, the new generation of industrial robotics includes drones, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and pipe-crawling inspection systems, all boosted by the inclusion of artificial intelligence (AI). “Robots exist and can be used now. They’re not science fiction,” Peerless said. “They are being used in the real world.” Amid the digital transformation in the energy sector, robotics has become a fast-growing investment. Operators are increasingly deploying machines that can withstand hazardous environments while collecting massive amounts of real-time operational data. The result is a safer, more efficient, and increasingly autonomous upstream industry. Historically, upstream operations depended heavily on manual inspections and labor-intensive maintenance, work that carries inherent risk. Robotic systems are changing that equation. Inspections and Beyond Modern inspection robots equipped with thermal imaging and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) cameras can perform inspections without exposing personnel to hazardous environments. “Overall, LiDAR provides highly accurate structural and 3D information of the surroundings, thereby enabling superior environmental perception and assessment,” said Ayon Dey, senior application engineer at MathWorks. Rather than shutting down production to inspect a storage tank or pressure vessel, operators can now deploy robotic crawlers or flying drones capable of collecting detailed inspection data while assets remain in service. This reduces downtime while significantly improving worker safety. The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) recently deployed a heavy-duty robot at its Taweelah gas compression plant to perform routine inspections in hazardous environments. The company said it is also developing another heavy lifter, the Autonomous Robot for Gas and Oil Sites (ARGOS), which will carry several sensors, including 3D LiDAR and thermal cameras. It is designed to move beyond inspection to physical interaction with industrial equipment. ADNOC said ARGOS “will be strong enough to lift heavy equipment and precise enough to turn valves and operate gauges, tasks that would normally require people to enter high-risk areas.” ARGOS is being developed as part of a joint industry project with Equinor, Petrobras, and TotalEnergies, along with the Net Zero Technology Center, Saft, and Taurob. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, have been widely adopted across upstream operations. Initially used primarily for aerial photography, drones now perform a variety of missions, using a variety of mounted sensors. Thermal imaging cameras enable drones to identify overheating equipment before failures occur, and optical gas imaging sensors detect methane leaks invisible to the naked eye.