Intelligent autonomous systems for safeguarding operations and infrastructure at sea

The damage to the North Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea highlighted that risks are changing dramatically. We are in a new geopolitical situation. How do researchers respond to the new risk picture? To tackle the new challenges NTNU now launches the Safeguard project. The aim is to enable robots to patrol the ocean. Safeguard will develop intelligent autonomous systems and supervisory risk control for surveillance and inspection of critical infrastructure and production in the ocean. One focus area is on how robots can live on the seabed, inspect, and monitor installations subsea. “The North Stream incident demonstrated the vulnerability of critical infrastructures in the ocean. Both the energy supply and Europe´s economy was hit. Imagine how robots can patrol important sites and make sure they are safe,” says Ingrid Bouwer Utne. She is a professor at the Department of Marine Technology and is a principal investigator and project manager of Safeguard. “We want to develop efficient surveillance systems for critical infrastructures in the ocean. Autonomous systems enable extensive data collection. This makes it possible to inspect and intervene in cost-efficient manners, and to perform continuous, dull-dirty-dangerous operations with less dependence on human operators. Successful missions in a harsh environment like the ocean, requires improved safety, intelligence, and operational capabilities through optimized observation platform systems and supervisory risk control. We want to push forward solutions for longer operations in the ocean.” The collaborators in the Safeguard project are the energy companies Equinor and Vår Energi, the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (FFI), and the Department of Marine Technology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). “The collaboration combines practical know-how and experience with scientific expertise, and we will educate 3 PhD students," says Ingrid Bouwer Utne.

Securing critical infrastructures, production assurance, efficient risk management, and reliable monitoring and communication in vast and remote areas are more important than ever. The risks are changing dramatically, driven by climate change and the geopolitical situation. The recent sabotage of the North Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea demonstrated the vulnerability of critical infrastructures in the ocean, the negative consequences for the energy supply and Europe´s economy. To mitigate these risk challenges, this project will develop technology solutions for intelligent autonomous systems and robotic organizations in persistent long-range safeguarding operations, realizing a patrolling surveillance system for the critical infrastructures in the ocean. Autonomous systems enable extensive data collection, surveillance, inspection, and intervention in the ocean due to cost efficiency, and the possibility for performing continuous and dull-dirty-dangerous operations with less dependence on human operators. These attributes make autonomous systems desirable for robotic organizations performing operations to detect, map, monitor, inspect, and protect critical ocean infrastructures and the environment, i.e., extensive safeguarding operations pushing endurance capabilities. Successful missions in the unstructured and harsh ocean, however, requires improved safety, intelligence, and operational capabilities through optimized observation platform systems and supervisory risk control, which is addressed in this project. SAFEGUARD constitutes a unique partnership between industry and academia, i.e., Equinor, Vår Energi, the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (FFI), and the Department of Marine Technology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).