CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- In the wake of the oil
disaster in the Gulf of Mexico,
many are questioning the safety of offshore drilling. One
company is working hard on new technologies for a cleaner, safer,
more effective way to drill.
With an estimated 5,000 barrels a day being released into the
ocean, the Gulf of Mexico BP oil spill could rival that of the 1989
Exxon Valdez spill. The explosion took the lives of 11 people
and will leave economic and environmental devastation (estimated to
be upwards of $7 Billion USD).
The investigation is still underway to determine the cause of
the explosion, but clearly, safeguards need to be in place to
ensure such a disaster cannot occur again if offshore drilling is
to have a prominent place in US energy policy.
The rig that exploded was being used not for production, but for
exploration -- seeking viable drilling areas for production.
A new, safer exploration rig is being developed by the
Norwegian company Seabed Rig AS. This new exploration rig is
unlike any other. It is designed to operate uninhabited on
the ocean floor, enabling safe exploration of ultra-deep water and
arctic regions that are difficult (or impossible) to access with
traditional rigs.
The rig is operated by sophisticated, intelligent robots that
are controlled using software provided by Cambridge, Massachusetts firm Energid
Technologies Corporation. "The software was originally
developed for NASA and the National Science Foundation for
controlling complex robotic systems," says Neil Tardella, COO of Energid. "We are
leveraging this software to build the most intelligent rig of its
kind."
By automating the rig, workers are kept far away from danger.
Moreover, an automated rig is less susceptible to human
errors -- the source of several major incidents in the past.
"Robots do not get tired and make mistakes," says
Roald Valen, Robotics and Control
System Manager at Seabed Rig. "They do not get hurt."
For safety, the seabed rig employs a patented encapsulated and
pressure compensated design, giving an environmentally friendly
solution with zero discharge to the sea. "Our aim is to make
the rig both safer and more effective than any exploration rig
currently in use," says Kenneth
Mikalsen, CTO of Seabed Rig.
The prototype seabed rig will be demonstrated at ONS 2010 in
Stavanger, Norway on August 24-27, 2010. For more information,
contact Mary Salzman at Energid
Technologies, +1.617.401.7090 x 420, or Roald Valen at Seabed Rig, +47.938.31.301.
About Energid Technologies
Energid Technologies develops tools for robotic applications in
the aerospace, agriculture, transportation, defense, and medical
industries. Energid's Actin™ and Selectin™ products provide
advanced robotics technology in the form of extensible software
toolkits. Energid specializes in the sensing, control, and
simulation of complex systems. For more information, please
visit www.energid.com.
About Seabed Rig
Seabed Rig AS is developing an innovative seabed drilling rig to
carry out cost-effective drilling from a location at the seabed, at
deep waters and in arctic areas. The Seabed Rig is unmanned with
automated and robotized working operations that are remotely
controlled from an interactive 3D interface. For more
information, please visit www.seabedrig.no.
© 2010 Energid Technologies Corporation. All rights reserved.
Actin, Selectin, and the Energid logo are trademarks of Energid
Technologies Corporation.
SOURCE Energid Technologies Corporation