Robotic Offshore Assistants Autonomous robots for efficient offshore foundation inspections

Inspecting the foundations is among the most complex tasks in the offshore wind sector.

Introduction

Inspecting the foundations is among the most complex tasks in the offshore wind sector. Start-ups show that compact autonomous robots increasingly deliver efficient and safe solutions in an area that had previously required significant numbers of on-site personnel.

Challenge

Monitoring and maintaining wind turbine foundations requires the deployment of specialised teams, expensive ships and elaborate safety measures. Powerful currents, limited underwater visibility and mercurial weather conditions make routine inspections time-consuming and costly. Adding to these factors is the need to collect precise data to analyse the service life of the systems – a combination that presents stiff logistical and financial challenges for conventional methods.

Deployment of compact autonomous robots

With their compact and lightweight design, next-gen underwater robots can be used flexibly without the need for large vessels and crews. Their small size is due to modular components and optimised hardware that enable the inspection of even narrow or inaccessible sections. Despite their build, they are powerful enough to collect precise data and perform inspections reliably. Start-ups such as Tethys Robotics benefit from these developments in particular: their agility and innovative power promote the fast evolution and testing of innovative technologies, as well as their modification for special challenges in offshore inspections. Increasingly scarce resources are driving the emergence of efficient solutions that harness the full capabilities of modular and flexible robots.

The performance of these compact systems builds on state-of-the-art sensor fusion. A blend of localisation, mapping and situational awareness enables the robots to navigate autonomously and collect data, even in complex offshore environments. Based on this data, the systems can precisely follow complex structures, while the operator merely uses a mouse to specify the intended route. Practical examples show that these robots deliver stable data collection even when exposed to difficult currents, while significantly reducing human risks as well.

Insights for the sector

Pilot projects have shown so far: compact autonomous robots can significantly reduce operational hurdles, enable new data access and bring added efficiency to inspection cycles. Start-ups are driving technological innovations that could revolutionise the safety standards and cost structure of offshore inspections in the long term.

Author: Jonas Wüst, CEO & Co-founder of Tethys Robotics AG

Jonas Wüst is in charge of strategic and operational development at Tethys Robotics AG, an ETH spin-off that creates autonomous underwater robots for offshore inspections. He focuses on the integration of compact, autonomous systems into current offshore processes and the promotion of innovative solutions that bring greater efficiency and safety to inspections, while yielding more data as well. Before that, he was involved in international technology projects at ETH Zurich in the field of maritime robotics.