Electric remotely operated vehicles (eROVs) that perform maintenance and repair tasks on offshore wind turbines are being developed by the National Robotarium in partnership with Fugro, the world’s leading Geo-data specialist. Deployed from Fugro’s uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), the companies are working closely together to explore how the offshore energy sector can benefit from advancing this autonomous technology.

英國(guó)國(guó)家機(jī)器人中心(National Robotarium)與全球領(lǐng)先的地理數(shù)據(jù)專家Fugro合作，正在開發(fā)對(duì)海上風(fēng)力渦輪機(jī)執(zhí)行維護(hù)和維修任務(wù)的電動(dòng)遠(yuǎn)程操作車輛(eROV)。兩家公司在Fugro的無(wú)人水面船(USV)上進(jìn)行部署，密切合作，探索海上能源部門如何從推進(jìn)這種自主技術(shù)中受益。

PART ➀

The £1.4 million Underwater Intervention for Offshore Renewable Energies (UNITE) project aims to dramatically improve health and safety for workers by reducing the need for potentially hazardous offshore maintenance missions conducted by crewed support vessels.

這項(xiàng)耗資140萬(wàn)英鎊的海上可再生能源水下干預(yù)(UNITE)項(xiàng)目旨在通過(guò)減少由船員支持船進(jìn)行的潛在危險(xiǎn)的海上維護(hù)任務(wù)的需求，大大改善工人的健康和安全。

The remotely operated robotic systems will address a number of additional sector challenges including supporting industry to reduce carbon emissions, improve offshore turbine productivity through reduced downtime, and make maintenance and repair exercises more cost-effective and timely.

遠(yuǎn)程操作的機(jī)器人系統(tǒng)將解決一些額外的行業(yè)挑戰(zhàn)，包括支持行業(yè)減少碳排放，通過(guò)減少停機(jī)時(shí)間提高海上渦輪機(jī)的生產(chǎn)率，并使維護(hù)和維修工作更具成本效益和及時(shí)性。

PART ➁

The UK has more than 11,000 offshore wind assets around its shores, with thousands more planned by 2050. On average, each turbine requires up to three maintenance check-ups per year and this figure increases as turbines age and require more maintenance to stay fully operational.

英國(guó)在其海岸周圍擁有超過(guò)11,000個(gè)海上風(fēng)電資產(chǎn)，到2050年計(jì)劃再增加數(shù)千個(gè)。平均而言，每臺(tái)渦輪機(jī)每年需要多達(dá)三次維護(hù)檢查，并且隨著渦輪機(jī)的老化，需要更多的維護(hù)以保持全面運(yùn)行，這個(gè)數(shù)字會(huì)增加。

Current industry maintenance methods involve vessels travelling into and working in areas of open ocean where a mix of trained divers and ship-based crews manually inspect and or deploy tele-operated robots for repair of individual wind turbines.

目前的行業(yè)維護(hù)方法包括船只駛?cè)腴_闊海域并在那里工作，由訓(xùn)練有素的潛水員和船上的工作人員手動(dòng)檢查或部署遠(yuǎn)程操作的機(jī)器人來(lái)維修單個(gè)風(fēng)力渦輪機(jī)。

When applied to the whole of the UK’s offshore wind sector, this translates into potentially hundreds of thousands of crewed maintenance missions every year which are costly for business, contribute emissions to the environment and present a safety risk for workers.

當(dāng)應(yīng)用于整個(gè)英國(guó)海上風(fēng)電行業(yè)時(shí)，這意味著每年可能有數(shù)十萬(wàn)個(gè)船員維護(hù)任務(wù)，這對(duì)企業(yè)來(lái)說(shuō)成本高昂，對(duì)環(huán)境造成排放，并對(duì)工人構(gòu)成安全風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。

PART ➂

In addition to supporting the uncrewed and remotely operated vessels, the pioneering research project will help develop autonomous and semi-autonomous ROVs capable of conducting subsea inspection, maintenance and repair tasks which can be monitored onshore whilst remotely deployed and operated from anywhere in the world.

除了支持無(wú)人駕駛和遠(yuǎn)程操作的船只外，該開創(chuàng)性研究項(xiàng)目還將幫助開發(fā)能夠進(jìn)行海底檢查、維護(hù)和維修任務(wù)的自主和半自主rov，這些rov可以在陸上進(jìn)行監(jiān)控，同時(shí)可以在世界任何地方遠(yuǎn)程部署和操作。

Researchers will specifically focus on developing technologies which allow robots to build more accurate maps of the subsea terrain to better navigate obstacles and targets. The project will also explore how robots autonomously interact with underwater structures, such as grasping or moving objects, whilst being subject to external forces like changing currents or rough seas.

研究人員將特別關(guān)注開發(fā)技術(shù)，使機(jī)器人能夠建立更準(zhǔn)確的海底地形地圖，以更好地導(dǎo)航障礙物和目標(biāo)。該項(xiàng)目還將探索機(jī)器人如何自主地與水下結(jié)構(gòu)相互作用，如抓取或移動(dòng)物體，同時(shí)受到外力的影響，如變化的洋流或洶涌的大海。

The project will be delivered by researchers from Heriot-Watt University and Imperial College London working within the National Robotarium, the UK’s leading AI and Robotics centre, in collaboration with Fugro and funded by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation.

該項(xiàng)目將由赫瑞瓦特大學(xué)(Heriot-Watt University)和倫敦帝國(guó)理工學(xué)院(Imperial College London)的研究人員與輝固(Fugro)合作，在英國(guó)領(lǐng)先的人工智能和機(jī)器人中心——國(guó)家機(jī)器人中心(National Robotarium)工作，并由英國(guó)研究與創(chuàng)新部門工程與物理科學(xué)研究委員會(huì)(Engineering and Physical Science Research Council)資助。

PART ④

The National Robotarium is part of the Data-Driven Innovation initiative, supported by £21 million from the UK Government and £1.4 million from the Scottish Government. The initiative aims to turn Edinburgh into the data capital of Europe and is part of the wider £1.3 billion Edinburgh and South-East Scotland City Region Deal.

國(guó)家機(jī)器人中心是數(shù)據(jù)驅(qū)動(dòng)創(chuàng)新計(jì)劃的一部分，由英國(guó)政府支持2100萬(wàn)英鎊，蘇格蘭政府支持140萬(wàn)英鎊。該倡議旨在將愛(ài)丁堡變成歐洲的數(shù)據(jù)之都，是更廣泛的13億英鎊愛(ài)丁堡和東南蘇格蘭城市地區(qū)協(xié)議的一部分。

Prof. Yvan Petillot is academic co-lead at the National Robotarium and principal investigator of the UNITE project. He said:

Yvan Petillot教授是國(guó)家機(jī)器人中心的學(xué)術(shù)聯(lián)合領(lǐng)導(dǎo)，也是UNITE項(xiàng)目的首席研究員。他說(shuō):

“We’re only a generation away from our obligation to deliver on our net zero promises by 2050 and 2045 in Scotland, so can’t afford to let the challenges faced by the offshore renewables sector slow down the construction and operation of essential, green energy assets like wind turbines.

“到2050年和2045年，我們距離蘇格蘭實(shí)現(xiàn)凈零排放承諾的義務(wù)只有一代人的時(shí)間，因此，我們不能讓海上可再生能源行業(yè)面臨的挑戰(zhàn)放慢風(fēng)力渦輪機(jī)等重要綠色能源資產(chǎn)的建設(shè)和運(yùn)營(yíng)。”

“Remote inspection and repair using robotic systems deployed in the field and controlled from shore is within our grasp. The long-term ambition is for crewless boats to be able to do this autonomously without direct human control based on a predetermined maintenance cycle - critical if we’re to see the widespread adoption of robotics in the rapidly expanding offshore wind sector.

“使用部署在現(xiàn)場(chǎng)并從岸上控制的機(jī)器人系統(tǒng)進(jìn)行遠(yuǎn)程檢查和維修是在我們的掌握之中。長(zhǎng)期目標(biāo)是，無(wú)人船能夠在預(yù)先確定的維護(hù)周期基礎(chǔ)上，在沒(méi)有人類直接控制的情況下自主完成這項(xiàng)工作——如果我們想看到機(jī)器人技術(shù)在迅速擴(kuò)張的海上風(fēng)電領(lǐng)域得到廣泛應(yīng)用，這一點(diǎn)至關(guān)重要。

“The National Robotarium’s partnership with Fugro presents an exciting opportunity to develop this next generation of underwater technologies as well as the skills and expertise needed to support the transition to net zero. UNITE has enormous potential to power the UK’s offshore renewable sector and beyond, delivering worldwide economic and environmental impact that can benefit communities around the world.”

“國(guó)家機(jī)器人館與輝固的合作為開發(fā)下一代水下技術(shù)以及支持向凈零過(guò)渡所需的技能和專業(yè)知識(shí)提供了一個(gè)令人興奮的機(jī)會(huì)。UNITE具有巨大的潛力，可以為英國(guó)的海上可再生能源行業(yè)及其他領(lǐng)域提供動(dòng)力，帶來(lái)全球經(jīng)濟(jì)和環(huán)境影響，使世界各地的社區(qū)受益。”