ORCA Stream B - Towards Resident Robots
Lead Research Organisation:
Heriot-Watt University
Department Name: Sch of Engineering and Physical Science
Abstract
The international offshore energy industry is undergoing as revolution, adopting aggressive net-zero objectives and shifting rapidly towards large scale offshore wind energy production. This revolution cannot be done using 'business as usual' approaches in a competitive market with low margins. Further, the offshore workforce is ageing as new generations of suitable graduates prefer not to work in hazardous places offshore. Operators therefore seek more cost effective, safe methods and business models for inspection, repair and maintenance of their topside and marine offshore infrastructure. Robotics and artificial intelligence are seen as key enablers in this regard as fewer staff offshore reduces cost, increases safety and workplace appeal. The long-term industry vision is thus for a digitised offshore energy field, operated, inspected and maintained from the shore using robots, digital architectures and cloud based processes to realise this vision. In the last 3 years, we has made significant advances to bring robots closer to widespread adoption in the offshore domain, developing close ties with industrial actors across the sector. The recent pandemic has highlighted a widespread need for remote operations in many other industrial sectors.
The ORCA Hub extension is a one year project from 5 UK leading universities with over 20 industry partners (>£2.6M investment) which aims at translating the research done into the first phase of the Hub into industry led use cases. Led by the Edinburgh Centre of Robotics (HWU/UoE), in collaboration with Imperial College, Oxford and Liverpool Universities, this multi-disciplinary consortium brings its unique expertise in: Subsea (HWU), Ground (UoE, Oxf) and Aerial robotics (ICL); as well as human-machine interaction (HWU, UoE), innovative sensors for Non Destructive Evaluation and low-cost sensor networks (ICL, UoE); and asset management and certification (HWU, UoE, LIV).
The Hub will provide remote solutions using robotics and AI that are applicable across a wide range of industrial sectors and that can operate and interact safely in autonomous or semi-autonomous modes in complex and cluttered environments. We will develop robotics solutions enabling accurate mapping , navigation around and interaction with assets in the marine, aerial and ground environments that support the deployment of sensors for asset monitoring. This will be demonstrated using 4 industry led use cases developed in close collaboration with our industry partners and feeding directly into their technology roadmaps: Offshore Renewable Energy Subsea Inspection in collaboration with EDF, Wood, Fugro, OREC, Seebyte Ltd and Rovco; Aerial Inspection of Large Infrastructures in Challenging Conditions in collaboration with Barrnon, BP, Flyability, SLAMCore, Voliro and Helvetis; Robust Inspection and Manipulation in Hazardous Environments in collaboration with ARUP, Babcock, Chevron, EMR, Lafarge, Createc, Ross Robotics; Symbiotic Systems for Resilient Autonomous Missions in collaboration with TLB, Total Wood and the Lloyds Register. This will see the Hub breach into new sectors and demonstrate the potential of our technology on a wider scale.
The ORCA Hub extension is a one year project from 5 UK leading universities with over 20 industry partners (>£2.6M investment) which aims at translating the research done into the first phase of the Hub into industry led use cases. Led by the Edinburgh Centre of Robotics (HWU/UoE), in collaboration with Imperial College, Oxford and Liverpool Universities, this multi-disciplinary consortium brings its unique expertise in: Subsea (HWU), Ground (UoE, Oxf) and Aerial robotics (ICL); as well as human-machine interaction (HWU, UoE), innovative sensors for Non Destructive Evaluation and low-cost sensor networks (ICL, UoE); and asset management and certification (HWU, UoE, LIV).
The Hub will provide remote solutions using robotics and AI that are applicable across a wide range of industrial sectors and that can operate and interact safely in autonomous or semi-autonomous modes in complex and cluttered environments. We will develop robotics solutions enabling accurate mapping , navigation around and interaction with assets in the marine, aerial and ground environments that support the deployment of sensors for asset monitoring. This will be demonstrated using 4 industry led use cases developed in close collaboration with our industry partners and feeding directly into their technology roadmaps: Offshore Renewable Energy Subsea Inspection in collaboration with EDF, Wood, Fugro, OREC, Seebyte Ltd and Rovco; Aerial Inspection of Large Infrastructures in Challenging Conditions in collaboration with Barrnon, BP, Flyability, SLAMCore, Voliro and Helvetis; Robust Inspection and Manipulation in Hazardous Environments in collaboration with ARUP, Babcock, Chevron, EMR, Lafarge, Createc, Ross Robotics; Symbiotic Systems for Resilient Autonomous Missions in collaboration with TLB, Total Wood and the Lloyds Register. This will see the Hub breach into new sectors and demonstrate the potential of our technology on a wider scale.
Organisations
- Heriot-Watt University (Lead Research Organisation)
- Doosan Babcock (Collaboration)
- BP (British Petroleum) (Collaboration)
- Lloyd's Register Foundation (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Fugro (Collaboration)
- SeeByte Ltd (Collaboration)
- ORE Catapult (Collaboration)
- EDF Energy (United Kingdom) (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Createc (Collaboration)
- Wood Group (Collaboration)
- University of Zagreb (Collaboration)
- Rovco Ltd (Collaboration)
- Ross Robotics (Collaboration)
- University of Plymouth (Collaboration)
- European Metal Recycling Limited (Collaboration)
- Barrnon (Collaboration)
- Arup Group (Collaboration)
- Technology Leadership Board (Project Partner)
- Barrnon (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Flyability (Project Partner)
- Wood (Project Partner)
- BP (United States) (Project Partner)
- Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (Project Partner)
- Helvetis (Project Partner)
- Total E&P UK PLC (Project Partner)
- SLAMcore Limited (Project Partner)
- Arup Group (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Fugro (Netherlands) (Project Partner)
- General Dynamics (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Createc (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Ross Robotics Limited (Project Partner)
- LafargeHolcim (Switzerland) (Project Partner)
- European Metal Recycling (EMR) (Project Partner)
- ROVCO LIMITED (Project Partner)
- Doosan (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Voliro (Project Partner)
Publications
Tugal H
(2022)
Manipulation at optimum locations for maximum force transmission with mobile robots under environmental disturbances
in Autonomous Robots
Yang P
(2021)
Enhancing Robustness Verification for Deep Neural Networks via Symbolic Propagation
in Formal Aspects of Computing
Mitchell D
(2021)
Symbiotic System of Systems Design for Safe and Resilient Autonomous Robotics in Offshore Wind Farms
in IEEE Access
Xiao F
(2021)
Optic Flow-Based Reactive Collision Prevention for MAVs Using the Fictitious Obstacle Hypothesis
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Ardon P
(2021)
Affordance-Aware Handovers With Human Arm Mobility Constraints
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Stephens B
(2022)
An Aerial Parallel Manipulator With Shared Compliance
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Finean M
(2022)
Where Should I Look? Optimised Gaze Control for Whole-Body Collision Avoidance in Dynamic Environments
in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RAL), 2022.
Meng Y
(2022)
Graph-Based Region and Boundary Aggregation for Biomedical Image Segmentation.
in IEEE transactions on medical imaging
Tiseo C
(2021)
HapFIC: An Adaptive Force/Position Controller for Safe Environment Interaction in Articulated Systems
in IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 2021.
Huang W
(2022)
Coverage-Guided Testing for Recurrent Neural Networks
in IEEE Transactions on Reliability
| Description | The project aimed to provide remote solutions using robotics and AI, applicable across a wide range of industrial sectors, that could operate and interact safely in autonomous and semi-autonomous modes within complex environments. We have developed solutions that have enabled accurate mapping, navigation around and interacting with assets within the marine, aerial and ground environments. We have continued to grow and develop our industry and academic network, expanding our support for the renewables sector while extending into other industrial sectors. Of note is our increasing presence in the construction, forestry and agriculture sectors with on-going industrial collaborations of funded research projects in these spaces. We also now have some strategic partnerships in place in the renewable sector. |
| Exploitation Route | We have continued to engage with offshore companies in the oil and gas sector with increased support for the energy transition and additional interest from the renewables sector . Having engaged with Technology Leadership Board (TLB) to develop an initiative to support the development of robotics within the energy sector as it moves into renewables and a net zero future, we now have a large £4M project funded (OLTER) which will drive the development and adoption of robotics by industry. We have also explored expansion of the technology developments of the Hub into the construction, nuclear, agriculture/forestry/viticulture and healthcare industries. This has led to several further proposal submissions and collaborations equating to approximately £7M. |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Agriculture, Food and Drink,Construction,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Energy,Environment |
| URL | https://orcahub.org/ |
| Description | The statistical outputs from the Stream B grant have been reported alongside outputs the original ORCA Hub, helping to contribute over a hundred industry engagements, an additional 50 publications and conference papers alongside continuing support for three start-ups. The subsea work has been presented to the general public through a UK-RAS Live Lab, enabling attendees to remotely operate an underwater vehicle. Specifically the Stream B grant has enabled the expansion of the technology into other sectors and led to further collaborations for future work. The ORCA Hub has taken a lead role in driving new initiatives, supporting industrial programmes and roadmaps, and initiating new work streams, aligning with the offshore energy industry as it responds to the energy transition and the increased pace of activity in the renewables sector. We are one of the funding members of OLTER, a new industry and government supported initiative to accelerate the take up of robotics solutions in the offshore energy sector and especially the offshore renewable sector as we transition to net-zero. Finally, we have entered in a number of strategic partnerships with industrial partners to exploit the outcomes of the Hub. These are currently commercially confidential. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2021 |
| Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Agriculture, Food and Drink,Construction,Energy,Healthcare |
| Impact Types | Policy & public services |
| Description | Supergen ORE Hub & ORCA Hub Funding Award |
| Amount | £12,500 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2021 |
| End | 04/2022 |
| Title | Two large wind blades and water tank at Flight Arena, Empa |
| Description | Two large wind blade sections arrived from ORE Catapult UK (6m x1.7m; 6mx0.4m). • We are in process of installation of these two wind blades (indoors and outdoors). • Installation of water tank (2m by 1.5m by 0.7m). |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Testbed for development of inspection technology in safe environment(prior to use in real world applications) Realistic testing environment Opportunity for robotic inspection to reduce risk to human workers. |
| Description | A Drone Platform for Autonomous Inspection and Repair of ORE Devices |
| Organisation | University of Plymouth |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Aerial robotic platform development for infrastructure monitor and repair. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Leveraging a computer vision-based pipeline to inspect the defect. |
| Impact | • Utilizing the aerial platform for repair in COAST laboratory • Leveraging a computer vision-based pipeline to inspect the defect • Applying a simple material deposition for proof of concept (a spray-type nozzle will be used) • Demonstrating the repair platform at the 13th UK Automatic Control Council (UKACC) International Conference - Control 2022 20-22 April, UoP, Plymouth • Identifying related funding sources |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Aerial robotics for acoustic sensing in complex environments |
| Organisation | University of Zagreb |
| Country | Croatia |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | In this project we explored the feasibility of aerial robotics to facilitate the non-invasive collection of acoustic data on waterbirds and underwater in freshwater ecosystems covering a wide spatial extent. We visited Croatia and collected samples from Lake Vrana and Park Maksimir. Aim is to determine whether protection and anthropogenic disturbance affect acoustic diversity of underwater species and the richness and diversity of birds in the largest freshwater ecosystem in Croatia. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Prof. Dr. Stjepan Bogdan and his team from University of Zagreb supported our research activities by arranging necessary resources required to complete the research. |
| Impact | Study on using aerial robotics for acoustic sensing in complex environment is still going on. Team visited lake Vrana and Park Maksimir in Croatia and collected the data. We are still analysing the data. We aim to establish following fact about the research: Acoustic dissimilarity within vegetation strata: 1. Aerial robotics can be used to place acoustic sensors in complex forested ecosystems 2. Placing acoustic recorders in the upper canopy will revel differences in species composition, which we fail to detect with standard survey methods. Underwater Freshwater Bioacoustics and Waterbird Bioacoustics: 1. Aerial robotics can facilitate non-invasive acoustic data collection in freshwater ecosystems at a wide spatial extent. 2. Biotic diversity, species richness and diversity will be higher in areas of the lake with increased protections and less anthropogenic disturbance. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Collaboration with Arup |
| Organisation | Arup Group |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Staff time for meetings to discuss possible ORCA Hub projects and sharing of developments relevant to Arup. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Arup will contribute to this project through staff time, primarily Simon Evans and Max Resnick with others brought in as necessary, in areas that may include: ? Definition of user requirements and criteria for success ? Provide insight into relevant use cases where this research is transferable to the markets that Arup works in ? Support defining what would constitute success, both technically and economically ? Potential involvement in an Industry Governance Board |
| Impact | Arup have provided professional industry input and attendance at ORCA Hub meetings. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Collaboration with Barrnon |
| Organisation | Barrnon |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Industrial Collaboration |
| Collaborator Contribution | - Definition of user requirements and criteria for success. - Provide detailed insight into decommissioning use cases where this research and technology are transferable. - Operational expertise related to the fluidic logic telepresence and decommissioning robotics process and current challenges. - Information and data which would aid in exploring the feasibility of the proposed solutions. - Support defining what would constitute success both technically and economically. - Provide the Barrnon Integrated Decommissioning System (BIDS) for trial demonstrations or proof-of-concept. - Provide general input and direction into the operational requirements of the proposed solutions into the decommissioning sector. - Provide test facilities. |
| Impact | No outcomes yet. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Collaboration with Createc |
| Organisation | Createc |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Industrial collaboration. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Engineering time. |
| Impact | Createc and University of Oxford are collaborating on several projects, which have brought in additional funding and further developed the ORCA research. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Collaboration with Doosan Babcock |
| Organisation | Doosan Babcock |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Industrial collaboration. |
| Collaborator Contribution | • Industrial insight to asset management standards and inspection strategies. • Provide information to specific asset integrity challenges and safety case requirements. • Operational insight into commercial NDE inspection technology. • Commercial and technical KPIs that would constitute success both technically and economically • Potential access to test facilities for trial demonstrations of proof-of-concept • General input and direction into the operational requirements of the proposed solutions into Doosan Babcock business sectors |
| Impact | No output yet. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Collaboration with EDF |
| Organisation | EDF Energy |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Industrial collaboration. |
| Collaborator Contribution | - Operational expertise related to the current wind turbine inspection process and challenges. - Definition of user requirements and criteria for success, both technically and economically. - Information and data which would aid in exploring the feasibility of the proposed solutions. - Help on the setup of trial demonstrations of proof-of-concept. - Work on the integration of a cleaning brush onto a subsea drone for marine growth removal. |
| Impact | Output planned for Q3/4 2022 and Q2 2023, as a continuation of activity beyond ORCA. Previous output from collaboration has been realised from ORCA Stream A activities. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Collaboration with European Metal Recycling |
| Organisation | European Metal Recycling Limited |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Industrial collaboration. |
| Collaborator Contribution | EMR will contribute to this project through: • Senior EMR staff time from Rob Chaddock, Wayne Kelsall and Roger Morton, valued at £12,000 ? Operational expertise related to the cutting of metal scrap with oxy-propane ? Information and data which would aid in exploring the feasibility of the proposed solution ? We will purchase and supply equipment for the University to use for the research with value up to £20,000 as follows: - the cutting torch head, the gas supply and light duty automated control valves for the gas supply - the materials for the rail - the motor to propel the torch along the rail - a range of sensors for the control system ? Provide general input and direction into the operational requirements of the proposed solutions into our sector ? Direct cash support for the staff involved in the project in the University (£10K). |
| Impact | No output yet. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Collaboration with Fugro |
| Organisation | Fugro |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Industrial collaboration. |
| Collaborator Contribution | ? Definition of user requirements and criteria for success ? Provide detailed insight into the marine use cases this research is targeting ? Provide operational expertise related to the subsea inspection, repair and maintenance of subsea structure process and current challenges ? Information and data which would aid in exploring the feasibility of the proposed solutions ? Support defining what would constitute success both technically and economically ? Provide access to and Remote Operation Centre facilities for trial demonstrations of proof-of-concept ? Provide Fugro Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs), Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) to support the application of the research during its development and/or trial demonstration ? Provide general input and direction into the operational requirements of the proposed solutions into marine operations |
| Impact | Fugro are an industry champion for Stream B challenge 1, providing industrial input into the commercial value of the developments and route to market. Output for this collaboration will take place Q3/4 2022 and Q2 2023 continuing the the ORCA work beyond EPSRC funding. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Collaboration with Lloyd's Register |
| Organisation | Lloyd's Register |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Industrial collaboration. |
| Collaborator Contribution | - Definition of client user requirements and criteria for success from the perspective of an international class society and assurance provider. - Insight into offshore use cases in oil and gas and offshore wind sectors to assist with technology transfer. - Operational expertise related to the application of technology qualification and type approval service in the offshore oil and gas and renewable sectors. - Multi-sector expertise in providing digital solutions and autonomous assurance methodologies. - Links to potential commercial exploitation partners where they are not already connected to the ORCA Hub. - Support to piloting remote sensing technology solutions with digital software products, either from own asset integrity software portfolio or in conjunction with existing client software systems. - Strategic support to Governance through Chairing the ISC and supporting academic and industrial liaison panels with specialists as appropriate. |
| Impact | Lloyd's Register are an industry champion for Stream B challenge 4, providing industrial input into the commercial value of the developments and route to market. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Collaboration with ORE Catapult |
| Organisation | ORE Catapult |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Industrial collaboration. |
| Collaborator Contribution | ? Provide Test and Validation facilities for trial demonstrations of proof-of-concept. Specifically our blade testing and expertise in Blyth as well as our 7MW demonstration turbine in Fife, Scotland. ? Operational expertise related to the current wind turbine inspection processes and current challenges, aiming to Identify current operational processes and their issues ? Information and data which would aid in exploring the feasibility of the proposed solutions ? Support defining what would constitute success both technically and economically ? Provide general input and direction into the operational requirements of the proposed solutions into the offshore wind sector ? Definition and validation of user requirements ? Identification of expected end user benefits and financial constraints |
| Impact | ORE Catapult are one of the partners in the OLTER project, alongside NZTC, which is a collaborative project that will build on the developments and expertise of ORCA and continue beyond the ORCA funding. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Collaboration with Ross Robotics |
| Organisation | Ross Robotics |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Industrial collaboation. |
| Collaborator Contribution | - Operational expertise related to the design and deployment process within robotics and current challenges. - Information and data which would aid in exploring the feasibility of the proposed solutions. - Supporting defining what would constitute success both technically and economically. - Provide robotic platforms for trial demonstrations of proof-of-concept. - Provide general input and direction into the operational requirements of the proposed solutions into the robotics sectors. |
| Impact | No outputs yet. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Collaboration with Rovco |
| Organisation | Rovco Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Industrial collaboration. |
| Collaborator Contribution | ? Provide detailed insight into the subsea use cases ? Operational expertise related to subsea inspection processes and current challenges ? Information and data which would aid in exploring the feasibility of the proposed solutions ? Support defining what would constitute success both technically and economically ? Provide general input and direction into the operational requirements of the proposed solutions into the offshore wind sectors |
| Impact | No output yet. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Collaboration with Seebyte |
| Organisation | SeeByte Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Industrial collaboration. |
| Collaborator Contribution | - Definition of user requirements and criteria for success. - Subject Matter Experts in both the Neptune and CoPilot products who will assist in integration of the software. - Operational expertise related to relevant commercial use cases and current challenges. - Provision of 1 CoPilot License and 2 Neptune Licenses for the duration of the program. - Provide general input and direction into the operational requirements of the proposed solutions into the offshore and renewable sectors. |
| Impact | Seebyte have provided ongoing support that has resulted in the award of additional funding building on the work completed in ORCA. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Collaboration with Wood |
| Organisation | Wood Group |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Industrial collaboration. |
| Collaborator Contribution | • Provide detailed insight into potential use cases for all research/technology within the ORCA portfolio, in a range of domains and identify opportunities to transfer applications to diverse sectors. • Definition of user requirements, criteria for success, and areas for development, drawing on our 1000+ Key Speciality Leaders and ~4,500 Subject Matter Experts across our 23 consulting domains, • Operational expertise related to inspection, maintenance, and risk management processes and current challenges, to aid in exploring the feasibility of the proposed solutions, • Support defining what would constitute success both technically and economically, • Where appropriate, and subject to any COVID restrictions etc., facilities may be utilised for specific purposes, as they have been in the past. |
| Impact | Wood have continued to support ORCA by being a member of our ILOP governance board and provided industry input into the direction and relevance of our research. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Collaboration with bp |
| Organisation | BP (British Petroleum) |
| Department | BP Exploration Operating Company Limited |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Industrial Collaboration. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Use of test facility. |
| Impact | The EMAT NDT team carried out a trial at the bp site in 2022. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Company Name | FRONTIER ROBOTICS LIMITED |
| Description | Company developing susbea inspection and autonomy solutions for the marine energy sector. |
| Year Established | 2023 |
| Impact | Jonatan Willners won a Royal Academic of Engineering industry Fellowship to start the company which is in its early days. Main current impact is on-going relationship with Fugro Limited on subsea inspection of wind farms. |
| Company Name | NAVLIVE LIMITED |
| Description | Company developing vision and navigation solutions to build accurate 3D models of the environment using SLAM solutions. |
| Year Established | 2022 |
| Impact | Company recently established and starting to make an impact in the construction sector |
| Website | http://navlive.co.uk |
| Description | Attended CoRL - International Conference on Robot Learning 2021 in London |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Attended CoRL - International Conference on Robot Learning 2021 in London |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Attended TAROS 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Attended Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems Conference (TAROS), 2021, online |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Digital Day 'A Sustainable Future with "Living" Machines - Collaborative Drones: How Physical Artificial Intelligence will Shape our Interaction with Robots |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | 40 Attendees |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://digitaltag.empa.ch/-lebende-machinen |
| Description | IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Attended (virtually) the 2021 ICRA conference |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | ILOP (Industry Challenge Champions), Conference Call, 10 December 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Catch-up meeting with our industry working group to provide an update on developments and forward plans. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | ILOP (Industry Challenge Champions), Conference Call, 15 February 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Catch-up meeting with our industry working group to discuss ORCA Hub activities past, present and future. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | ILOP (Industry Challenge Champions), Conference Call, 20 January 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Catch-up meeting with our industry working group to provide an update on developments and forward plans. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | ILOP Governance Meeting, 06 October 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Governance meeting with our industry working group to discuss ORCA past, present and future. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | ILOP Governance Meeting, 23 March 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Governance meeting with our industry working group to close-out ORCA industry related activities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | ISC Governance Meeting, 07 October 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Governance meeting with our independent steering group to discuss ORCA past, present and future. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | ISC Governance Meeting, 24 March 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Governance meeting with our independent steering group to close-out the ORCA project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Meeting with ANYbotics, AG, Switzerland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Meeting to present research and potential collaboration |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Meeting with ANYbotics, AG, Switzerland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Meeting to present research and potential collaboration |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Meeting with Accenture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Meeting to discuss collaboration on quadruped robots |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Meeting with Dyson, UK |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Meeting to present research and potential collaboration |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Meeting with EDF |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Meeting to present research and potential collaboration |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | ORCA Hub Stream B challenge 1 webinar, 05 July 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Webinar to present Stream B challenge 1 to industry. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | ORCA Hub Stream B challenge 2 webinar, 06 July 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Webinar to present Stream B challenge 2 to industry. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | ORCA Hub Stream B challenge 3 webinar, 07 July 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Webinar to present Stream B challenge 3 to industry. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | ORCA Hub Stream B challenge 4 webinar, 09 July 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Webinar to present Stream B challenge 4 to industry. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | ORCA Hub Stream B challenge 5 webinar, 08 July 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Webinar to present Stream B challenge 5 to industry. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | ORCA Industry Workshop (AIM Day) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Meeting industry and policymakers from the energy sector and discussing current capabilities and research |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | ORCA Stream B Launch Webinar, 17 June 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | We hosted a webinar to present our achievements in ORCA to date and what our development plans were for the additional Stream B funding. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems Conference (TAROS 2021) - Physical AI for Soft Aerial Robotics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | 25 attendees. Environmental and infrastructure sciences rely heavily on accurate, timely and complete data sets which are often collected manually at significant risks and costs. Robotics and mobile sensor networks can collect data more effectively and with higher spatial-temporal resolution compared to manual methods while benefiting from expanded operational envelopes and added data collection capabilities. In future, robotics will be an indispensable tool for data collection in complex environments, enabling the digitalisation of forests, lakes, off-shore energy systems, cities and the polar environment. However, such future robot solutions will need to operate more flexibly, robustly and efficiently than they do today. This talk will present how animal-inspired robot design methods can integrate adaptive morphologies, functional materials and energy-efficient locomotion principles to enable this new class of environmental robotics. The talk will also include application examples, such as flying robots that can place sensors in forests, aerial-aquatic drones for autonomous water sampling, drones with compliant landing systems for landing on wind turbines, drones for aerial construction and repair, and impact-resilient drones for safe operations in underground and tunnel systems. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://lcas.lincoln.ac.uk/wp/taros-2021/ |
| Description | Trials at the Fire Service College |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Field trials for ORCA |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | UK-RAS ORI Lab presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | UK-RAS event targeting a wide public audience |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |