Real-world demonstration of sensor-based robotic automation in oil & gas facilities

The focus of this paper is our recent real-world demonstration using an industrial robot certified for running in explosive atmospheres (ATEX). The demonstration is run amidst live and running hydrocarbon processes and involves autonomous valve manipulation and thermal inspection operations. The valve manipulation operation involves sensor-based movements which implies that the robot trajectories have not been programmed a priori (off-line). In particular, an approach will be presented to sense and avoid over-tightening/loosening of the valve. To the best of our knowledge, this prototype is the first system that performs sensor-based close-contact operations in a real operational environment.