Ten years ago, Fugro set out on an ambitious mission: to bring expert staff off of vessels, and into a purpose built remote operations centre, or ROC. The first of these ROCs, in Houston, now allows specialist staff to work on multiple projects at once, giving customers the real time data and analysis they need to compete in the fast-paced markets at the heart of the energy transition.

In the decade since, Fugro has established ROCs around the world. In this episode, we learn how staff in Houston, Aberdeen, Dubai and Perth are enjoying a better work-life balance, without the need to spend weeks away from home, working offshore. The move will allow Fugro to diversify the workforce and recruit staff skilled in other areas, such as IT and software. And it means employees can devote more of their working time to where it will have the most impact and value for customers.

As the global network of ROCs has been rolled out, Fugro has been developing not just remote analysis, but remote command and control, of vessels and survey vehicles, with autonomy playing an increasingly important role. This allows Fugro not only to compete for individual projects, but to offer remote operations as a service.

At sea, these developments can now shrink the climate and financial costs of performing surveys. But the concept has gone much further, with the Australian Space Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Control (SpAARC) facility now working with Intuitive Machines to bring remote operation to the moon. And this work is laying the foundation for increased use of remote operations in more mundane, earthly, applications.

Guests

Ryan Trahan, Remote Operations Surveyor, Houston, Fugro

Fionnuala Richard, Regional Manager Americas Remote Operations Centers

Vitto César, Remote Operations Centre Senior Geophysicist, Aberdeen, Fugro

Jeff Richardson, Regional Manager Europe and Africa Remote Operations Centres, Fugro

Ross Macfarlane, Manager, Middle East and India Remote and Autonomous Operations Resource Centre, Fugro

Samuel Forbes, Director, The Australian Space Automation and AI Robotics Control Complex (SpAARC), Fugro

The post #314 Remote Operations, To the Moon and Back first appeared on Engineering Matters.