Electric remotely operated vehicles (eROVs) that perform maintenance and repair tasks on offshore wind turbines are being developed by the National Robotarium in partnership with Fugro, the world’s leading Geo-data specialist. Deployed from Fugro’s uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), the companies are working closely together to explore how the offshore energy sector can benefit from advancing this autonomous technology.

英國國家機器人中心(National Robotarium)與的地理數據專家Fugro合作，正在開發對海上風力渦輪機執行維護和維修任務的電動遠程操作車輛(eROV)。兩家公司在Fugro的無人水面船(USV)上進行部署，密切合作，探索海上能源部門如何從推進這種自主技術中受益。

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The ￡1.4 million Underwater Intervention for Offshore Renewable Energies (UNITE) project aims to dramatically improve health and safety for workers by reducing the need for potentially hazardous offshore maintenance missions conducted by crewed support vessels.

這項耗資140萬英鎊的海上可再生能源水下干預(UNITE)項目旨在通過減少由船員支持船進行的潛在危險的海上維護任務的需求，大大改善工人的健康和安全。

The remotely operated robotic systems will address a number of additional sector challenges including supporting industry to reduce carbon emissions, improve offshore turbine productivity through reduced downtime, and make maintenance and repair exercises more cost-effective and timely.

遠程操作的機器人系統將解決一些額外的行業挑戰，包括支持行業減少碳排放，通過減少停機時間提高海上渦輪機的生產率，并使維護和維修工作更具成本效益和及時性。

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The UK has more than 11,000 offshore wind assets around its shores, with thousands more planned by 2050. On average, each turbine requires up to three maintenance check-ups per year and this figure increases as turbines age and require more maintenance to stay fully operational.

英國在其海岸周圍擁有超過11,000個海上風電資產，到2050年計劃再增加數千個。平均而言，每臺渦輪機每年需要多達三次維護檢查，并且隨著渦輪機的老化，需要更多的維護以保持全面運行，這個數字會增加。

Current industry maintenance methods involve vessels travelling into and working in areas of open ocean where a mix of trained divers and ship-based crews manually inspect and or deploy tele-operated robots for repair of individual wind turbines.

目前的行業維護方法包括船只駛入開闊海域并在那里工作，由訓練有素的潛水員和船上的工作人員手動檢查或部署遠程操作的機器人來維修單個風力渦輪機。

When applied to the whole of the UK’s offshore wind sector, this translates into potentially hundreds of thousands of crewed maintenance missions every year which are costly for business, contribute emissions to the environment and present a safety risk for workers.

當應用于整個英國海上風電行業時，這意味著每年可能有數十萬個船員維護任務，這對企業來說成本高昂，對環境造成排放，并對工人構成安全風險。

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In addition to supporting the uncrewed and remotely operated vessels, the pioneering research project will help develop autonomous and semi-autonomous ROVs capable of conducting subsea inspection, maintenance and repair tasks which can be monitored onshore whilst remotely deployed and operated from anywhere in the world.

除了支持無人駕駛和遠程操作的船只外，該開創性研究項目還將幫助開發能夠進行海底檢查、維護和維修任務的自主和半自主rov，這些rov可以在陸上進行監控，同時可以在世界任何地方遠程部署和操作。

Researchers will specifically focus on developing technologies which allow robots to build more accurate maps of the subsea terrain to better navigate obstacles and targets. The project will also explore how robots autonomously interact with underwater structures, such as grasping or moving objects, whilst being subject to external forces like changing currents or rough seas.

研究人員將特別關注開發技術，使機器人能夠建立更準確的海底地形地圖，以更好地導航障礙物和目標。該項目還將探索機器人如何自主地與水下結構相互作用，如抓取或移動物體，同時受到外力的影響，如變化的洋流或洶涌的大海。

The project will be delivered by researchers from Heriot-Watt University and Imperial College London working within the National Robotarium, the UK’s leading AI and Robotics centre, in collaboration with Fugro and funded by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation.

該項目將由赫瑞瓦特大學(Heriot-Watt University)和倫敦帝國理工學院(Imperial College London)的研究人員與輝固(Fugro)合作，在英國的人工智能和機器人中心——國家機器人中心(National Robotarium)工作，并由英國研究與創新部門工程與物理科學研究委員會(Engineering and Physical Science Research Council)資助。

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The National Robotarium is part of the Data-Driven Innovation initiative, supported by ￡21 million from the UK Government and ￡1.4 million from the Scottish Government. The initiative aims to turn Edinburgh into the data capital of Europe and is part of the wider ￡1.3 billion Edinburgh and South-East Scotland City Region Deal.

國家機器人中心是數據驅動創新計劃的一部分，由英國政府支持2100萬英鎊，蘇格蘭政府支持140萬英鎊。該倡議旨在將愛丁堡變成歐洲的數據之都，是更廣泛的13億英鎊愛丁堡和東南蘇格蘭城市地區協議的一部分。

Prof. Yvan Petillot is academic co-lead at the National Robotarium and principal investigator of the UNITE project. He said:

Yvan Petillot教授是國家機器人中心的學術聯合領導，也是UNITE項目的首席研究員。他說:

“We’re only a generation away from our obligation to deliver on our net zero promises by 2050 and 2045 in Scotland, so can’t afford to let the challenges faced by the offshore renewables sector slow down the construction and operation of essential, green energy assets like wind turbines.

“到2050年和2045年，我們距離蘇格蘭實現凈零排放承諾的義務只有一代人的時間，因此，我們不能讓海上可再生能源行業面臨的挑戰放慢風力渦輪機等重要綠色能源資產的建設和運營。”

“Remote inspection and repair using robotic systems deployed in the field and controlled from shore is within our grasp. The long-term ambition is for crewless boats to be able to do this autonomously without direct human control based on a predetermined maintenance cycle - critical if we’re to see the widespread adoption of robotics in the rapidly expanding offshore wind sector.

“使用部署在現場并從岸上控制的機器人系統進行遠程檢查和維修是在我們的掌握之中。長期目標是，無人船能夠在預先確定的維護周期基礎上，在沒有人類直接控制的情況下自主完成這項工作——如果我們想看到機器人技術在迅速擴張的海上風電領域得到廣泛應用，這一點至關重要。

“The National Robotarium’s partnership with Fugro presents an exciting opportunity to develop this next generation of underwater technologies as well as the skills and expertise needed to support the transition to net zero. UNITE has enormous potential to power the UK’s offshore renewable sector and beyond, delivering worldwide economic and environmental impact that can benefit communities around the world.”

“國家機器人館與輝固的合作為開發下一代水下技術以及支持向凈零過渡所需的技能和知識提供了一個令人興奮的機會。UNITE具有巨大的潛力，可以為英國的海上可再生能源行業及其他領域提供動力，帶來全球經濟和環境影響，使世界各地的社區受益。”