Interview with Rolf Hjelmeland - VP AHC & USV
In a nutshell, what you do at Scantrol and what is your responsibilities?
My responsibilities at Scantrol revolve around our products for motion compensation and unmanned operation at sea. I work by connecting our dedicated and highly skilled technical team with the needs of the industry and our customers. I am responsible for ensuring that our solutions for motion compensation and unmanned operation meet the requirements we see today and solve the needs the industry has in the future.
What do you think is driving the rise in unmanned offshore operations?
Due to the shift in the ocean industry's focus towards reducing carbon footprint and environmental impact and at the same time minimizing operational risk and reducing cost, ROV and survey contractors have stepped up their efforts to remove personnel from offshore operations and begun implementing fully unmanned operations utilizing USVs as platforms for ROVs and AUVs.
When it comes to moving from manned to unmanned operations, what are the most significant benefits?
Massive reduction in CO2 emissions and fuel consumption
HSE risk reduced to a minimum
Significant cost savings
USVs can collect the same data and perform the same tasks as crewed vessels
In developing advanced control systems to support unmanned operations, what do you believe are the key success criteria?
Developing control systems for unmanned operations has been on Scantrol's agenda for several years. Unmanned marine operations require careful development, testing and implementation of technology in close collaboration with clients to ensure safety and reliability.
With no operators onboard the unmanned vessels, the human decision-making will be removed, and the operation is now without:
The experience and training of the operator onboard
The decision-making done by the operator in case of an incident or unplanned event
The senses of the operator onboard: sight, smell, hearing, temperature, vibration, vessel motion
Unmanned vessels must be designed with control systems that compensate for the above factors.
Scantrol is successfully addressing this growing and demanding market for unmanned operations. Can you explain why Scantrol is doing so well?
Fugro Blue Essence® and Fugro Blue Volta®: The mTrack unit is used to control Hydramec’s UMS system for Fugro’s ROV Fugro Blue Volta® onboard the USV Fugro Blue Essence®. (Photo credited: Fugro).
Scantrol has years of experience providing control systems with high user value to a wide range of clients. More than 1200 vessels use Scantrol to control winches, cylinders, cranes, and LARS systems. It has been critical for our success that we understand how the operation works, and only add functionalities that have high operational and user benefits.
Scantrol is home to a highly skilled and dedicated team, with 25% devoted to research and development. As a leading provider of advanced control systems across the globe for over 20 years, we have accumulated world-class expertise in the field. Additionally, we benefit from the expertise of Scantrol's sister companies, Girona Vision Research (GVR) and Deep Vision. As a team, we have ambitions, competence, and the ability to contribute to the development of fully autonomous operations.
In spite of the fact that the development of unmanned vessels is still in its early stages, Scantrol has established a significant position in the market by delivering control systems to more than 20 UVSs. The position and role we play in the market are important to us, and we strive to stay ahead of technology development by solving our client's core problems.
We will contribute by creating an infrastructure that allows un-crewed operation in the same working conditions as done with crewed vessels today.