ABSTRACT

AUTONOMOUS SITE INSPECTIONS WITH ROBOTS

Field Services operation is a fundamental part of Baker Hughes services, where we provide expertise for installation, maintenance, repair, upgrade and normal operation of all the rotating O&G equipment that Baker Hughes design and manufactures.
Especially for the support during the normal operation period, one of the scope is to support customers performing repetitive inspections to identify any anomalies that may affect the continuity of production.
These inspections can be frequent, often completed in dangerous areas and with a high level of data quality.
For these reasons we’re developing capabilities to help Customers with autonomous devices, that could include fixed cameras, robots or drones, all equipped with an AI based software to automatically detect a list of pre-defined anomalies.
We started to test autonomous robots, both legged and crawlers, able to autonomously move in a complex environment, climbing stairs and in presence of toxic/explosive gas, collecting data with a list of advanced sensors, not only cameras.
This data can also support our iCenter, remote monitoring and diagnostic digital service, by adding visual information to that already captured by asset sensors, and providing a more complete picture. This will allow remote experts to have much more data to assess units’ health and prevent issues.
In parallel, we’ll look at the approach to newer types of assets, to facilitate robot handling and autonomous inspections execution (e.g. in terms of walking ways, stairs, instruments positioning, painting, etc.)
These services will enable Baker Hughes to enhance our vast expertise in asset monitoring and issue prevention with innovative technologies, to expand and support the low added value, repetitive and dangerous site inspections activities currently completed by humans.

BIO

Lorenzo Salusti is the Senior Product Leader for Field Services at Baker Hughes, in charge to develop innovative tools and products to improve the execution of activities at site, in terms of productivity, quality and HSE.
Before joining the Product Management team, he worked to define and optimize maintenance preparation processes (2016-2019). Even before, for over a decade, Lorenzo played a fundamental role in the development of Product Support organization, starting in Field Test and Diagnostic Team (2002-2006), moving to develop Remote Monitoring and Diagnostic service (iCenter, 2006-2008) and then to lead the first level of product support (2008-2011), before becoming the Quality Leader of all the Service Engineering team (2011-2016).
Lorenzo is working in Baker Hughes since 2002, after an initial experience in automotive (BredaMenarini and bBianchi, 1998-2002), being graduated in 1998 in Mechanical Engineering at University of Florence.