It was an event for people with a thirst for knowledge; for people who don’t let new trends pass them by: the Field of the Future DemoDay on 11 October. The event was organised by Aker Solutions, an engineering company providing products, systems and services required to obtain energy such as oil, gas and offshore wind. PALFINGER was invited to present a new crane concept.
On this occasion, Aker Solutions employees and customers came to the offices in Fornebu in Norway to gaze into the crystal ball. Together with some of its partners, the engineering company shared current projects with them, all striving for the overall objective of de-manning offshore facilities. The main goal of the event was to show visitors how Aker Solutions is responding to the current market situation and demand. One major highlight was the live demonstration of the Ivar Aasen onshore control room in Trondheim, where processes on the Ivar Aasen field can be controlled from the shore, as the name suggests.
PALFINGER DE-MANS WITH THE REMOTE OPERATED OFFSHORE CRANE (ROOC)
Among the soon-to-be-realised unmanned and low-manned platform solutions was PALFINGER’s newly-developed concept for a Remote Operated Offshore Crane (ROOC), presented by Sebastian Wimmer and colleagues from OLHS (Offshore Lifting and Handling Solutions) as well as from Palfinger 21st. As Program Leader ACE (autonomous, connected and electrical operation), Sebastian holds an essential role at PALFINGER. Underlining the company’s commitment to sustainability, he focuses on developing safer, greener and more efficient lifting solutions. All values that apply to the ROOC. So far, so good. But what’s the idea behind this innovative crane-to-be?
THE CRANE, WHICH IS MOUNTED ON AN OFFSHORE OIL PLATFORM, WILL BE CAPABLE OF BEING OPERATED REMOTELY FROM HUNDREDS OF KILOMETERS AWAY ON SHORE.
Sebastian Wimmer, Program Leader ACE
To visualise how this could work in the future, Sebastian and his colleagues offered DemoDay visitors an opportunity to test this concept with an offshore crane simulator. Aside from general operator training, this virtual reality program has been specifically developed as part of the ROOC project.
Offshore crane simulator, © Aker Solutions
The ROOC concept is based on an extensive Field-of-the-Future-study encompassing all facts and figures that need to be considered for the project to be realized. Once the study had been completed, a scale crane was produced. ‘A prototype, so to speak’, Sebastian elaborates, ‘and the next step will be to automate this very prototype, which means integrating a control system as well as new assistance systems’. This step is due for completion in December 2019.
Featured image: © Aker Solutions