Offshore inspection robots in the UK: what has worked in the North Sea, which robot suits which platform deck, and what the rules expect

Yes. In September 2018 ANYbotics and the transmission operator TenneT ran a one-week pilot of ANYmal on an offshore converter platform in the North Sea, covering 16 inspection points such as gauges, levers, oil and water levels, and thermal readings autonomously. The same year the Oil and Gas Technology Centre in Aberdeen backed a £4m project to deploy a Taurob robot at Total's Shetland gas plant before moving it to the Alwyn platform. In 2020 Aker BP and Cognite ran Boston Dynamics' Spot on the Skarv FPSO in the Norwegian Sea, with data sent to Cognite's platform and the robot controlled from onshore. Equinor deployed a Taurob Inspector offshore in 2021. In November 2023 Aker BP, Cognite and ANYbotics tested ANYmal X in Ex-rated zones on the Valhall platform, integrating the robot's data through the ANYmal API as a step towards remote inspection on normally unattended platforms. bp has used Spot on its Mad Dog platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

Most of these deployments are in Norwegian, Dutch or German waters, or onshore UK. That is the honest picture: the evidence is strong for the North Sea as a basin, thinner for UK-sector installations specifically. All figures are from the operators' and manufacturers' own announcements, not Forge results.

No single offshore robot covers a whole installation, and the table describes forms, not a ranking. Certification, gas group and temperature class must match the installation's hazardous area classification for every area on the route.

Oil and gas installations

UK offshore oil and gas installations operate under the Offshore Installations (Offshore Safety Directive) (Safety Case etc.) Regulations 2015, regulated by HSE's Energy Division together with the environmental regulator. Each installation's safety case describes how major accident hazards are managed, including how safety and environmental critical elements are inspected and maintained. A robot that takes over part of an inspection regime should be reflected in that regime, with the duty holder's verification scheme and independent competent person consulted. Emergency response arrangements under PFEER 1995 remain with people; a robot does not change muster, escape or rescue.

Hazardous areas

Much of a process platform's topsides is classified into zones, and only equipment certified for the zone, gas group and temperature class may enter. Among legged robots, only ANYbotics publishes a certified model, ANYmal X, for Zone 1 IIB T4 gas areas. How to read the marking and which forms are certified is in our guide to ATEX and explosion-proof inspection robots.

Offshore wind

Offshore renewable installations are not under the oil and gas safety case regime. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Application outside Great Britain) Order 2013 applies the Act to offshore renewable energy structures in the territorial sea and Renewable Energy Zone, with HSE as the regulator. Offshore substations and converter platforms are where a ground robot fits best: the TenneT pilot above was on exactly that kind of platform.

Floating units and vessels

FPSOs, FSOs and floating wind foundations are also ships or ship-shaped, and their tanks and hulls are inspected under classification rules. Our guide to ship and vessel inspection robots covers IACS Recommendation 42 and remote inspection of tanks and hulls.

A radiometric thermal camera for rotating equipment, electrical enclosures, heat exchangers and pipework. A zoom camera for gauges, levels, valve positions and corrosion. An acoustic sensor or microphone for pumps, compressors and gas leaks. A multi-gas detector covering flammable gas, oxygen and hydrogen sulphide as a minimum, certified with the robot for any zoned route. A gas-imaging camera where fugitive emissions matter. Lighting for night rounds. LiDAR for navigation and for comparing the installation with its 3D model. Every sensor adds weight against the robot's payload rating, and on a certified robot every sensor must be within the certificate.

Offshore, the robot's findings need to reach the maintenance system, the onshore operations centre, and often a digital twin or data platform, across a link to shore that may be fibre, microwave or satellite and is shared with everything else on the installation. The Aker BP deployments show the pattern: the value came from connecting the robot's data to the operator's own data platform, not from the robot alone.

Forge Anvil is the integration software we are developing for this job: carrying findings to the systems the operator already runs. Offshore, the pattern we would scope looks like this:

What integration hardware goes offshore, and where it sits, is scoped per project in the integration review, along with which systems Forge Anvil connects to. The integration patterns are in our guide to integrating a robot with the software you already run.

Start onshore, on a representative plant or test facility, then move to a manned installation on one route before any normally unattended installation. Choose the round first: frequent, repetitive, long or in areas people would rather not visit. Match the robot form from the table above and the certification from the hazardous area classification. Involve the installation manager, the technical authority for inspection, the verification scheme owner and the onshore operations team from the start. Agree the measures:

Include an exit condition. That is how we structure a pilot programme. Innovation funding for offshore energy technology exists in the UK, for example through the Net Zero Technology Centre in Aberdeen (formerly the Oil and Gas Technology Centre, which backed the 2018 Taurob project); eligibility and open calls vary and nothing is guaranteed.