Autonomous ‘snake robots’ built by Norwegian company Eelume, a spin-off from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) supported by majority shareholder Kongsberg Maritime, are to be deployed by Argeo, a survey and inspection company focused on subsea data acquisition and visualisation.
Argeo uses robotics, sensors, and data analytics systems to conduct ocean space inspections. The company aims to enable higher accuracy data acquisition by implementing technologies such as Eelume to support the construction of its digital models based on geophysical, hydrographic, and geological data.
“We believe that this is just the beginning of a major shift in how the industry conducts underwater operations. There is a need in the market for this type of solution, and we anticipate a significant requirement for more robots of this type in the long term,” said Trond Crantz, CEO, Argeo.
“In addition to lowering carbon footprint and increasing efficiency, Eelume technology will enable Argeo to significantly reduce the costs related to inspection, light intervention and monitoring (IMR) of subsea assets and infrastructure.”
“Currently, 90% of these costs are vessel-related. Implementing Eelume as a resident inspection tool for offshore wind and oil & gas will replace up to 70% of vessel activities.”
In operation, one of the snake robots can typically provide a serviceable footprint of 50-75 km2, and will be linked with Argeo’s Unmanned Surface Vessels (USV).
