Beam brings Rovco and Vaarst back together for undersea robotics
Bristol hosts one of the world’s leading developers of undersea systems, which is bringing its two separate companies together under Beam Global.
Underwater robotic system developer Rovco spun out its R&D division into a separate company called Vaarst in 2021 with 29 staff.
The two companies have been brought back together in a company called Beam to focus on the market for developing, building and maintaining off shore wind turbines with remotely operated robots.
Rovco has developed an AI system that dramatically accelerates the identification and clearance of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the North Sea. Historically, this process could take up to two and a half years, with marine surveyors meticulously analysing seabed surveys. Today with the Vaarst AI-driven technology, this timeline has been reduced to just two-to-three months. But the impact of AI goes far beyond UXO clearance.
This also helps with a broader issue facing the offshore renewables and tech industry: a looming skills shortage. “We foresee a skills shortage in offshore renewables,” said Joe Tidball, co-founder of Rovco. “So how do we take the number of people we have right now and allow them to do more work? It comes back to AI, allowing computers to look through multiple data sets at one time.”
This AI technology allows for more efficient processing and analysis of large volumes of data, enabling teams to accomplish more with the same resources. By leveraging AI, Rovco is not just speeding up specific tasks; we are redefining how the entire offshore wind sector operates, ensuring that the industry can scale effectively to meet future demands.
“We need to see significant technology advancements that cut costs, shorten project time and improve processes across the entire lifecycle of offshore wind farms if we are to come close to meeting global goals. Whether its surveys for site preparation, critical undersea operational projects, or oil field decommissioning, our combination of AI, rich data and robotics is transforming what’s possible in offshore wind by automating and accelerating processes, bringing immediate time and cost savings,” said Beam.
“Autonomous robotics are the key to reducing the cost of offshore operations. At the same time, digitalisation of field assets is essential as the industry evolves, marrying these two concepts is needed to realise the real benefit of modern tech. It’s the data that has to drive the vehicles. Vaarst is committed to unlocking the potential of offshore robotics for all,” said Vaarst CEO and Founder, Brian Allen.
Cutting-edge technologies are also a key solution to one of the industry’s most pressing challenges: the workforce shortage. An engineer partnered with artificial intelligence completes exponentially more work than they can alone. Unsupervised autonomy transforms the role of the driver of one vehicle into the caretaker of an autonomous fleet. AI brings first power closer, shifts sea-based jobs to homes and offices, and improves the efficiency of offshore workers and marine assets says Beam.
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