NTNU spin-off company Eelume will collaborate with Kongsberg Maritime and Statoil to develop swimming robots for subsea inspection and light intervention.
Kongsberg Maritime and Statoil have signed an agreement with Eelume, a NTNU spin-off company, to accelerate a technology that will reduce costs related to subsea inspection, maintenance and repair operations.
NTNU and Sintef have conducted research on snake robotics for a long time. Eelume is developing a disruptive solution for underwater inspection and maintenance in the form of a swimming robot. These robots will do inspection and light intervention jobs on the seabed, reducing the use of large and expensive vessels.
With its snake-like form, the slender and flexible body of the Eelume robot provides access to confined areas that are difficult to access with existing technology.
Eelume robots will be permanently installed on the seabed and will perform planned and on-demand inspections and interventions.
The solution can be installed on both existing and new fields where typical jobs include: visual inspection, cleaning, and adjusting valves and chokes. These jobs account for a large part of the total subsea inspection and intervention spend.
