Woodside Energy to train Nasa’s Robonaut to work in oil and gas industry

Woodside Energy and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have launched a new collaboration program under which the Australian independent oil and gas company will develop applications for Nasa’s Robonaut in its own operations. 

Under the partnership Nasa will loan Woodside an Anthropomorphic Robonaut System for a 60-month deployment in Perth. Together the two organisations will explore how the robotic technology could be used to improve safety, reliability and efficiency in the high-risk and remote environments where Woodside operates.

Woodside will contribute its advanced cognitive science technology, being developed in its Western Australian operations, and Nasa will share its expertise in Robonauts that are already being used for simple, repetitive, or especially dangerous tasks in places such as the International Space Station. 

As part of the project, Woodside will begin by researching ways in which the Robonaut could perform tasks from more than 300 ideas suggested by the company’s operators, engineers and maintenance workers.

Woodside’s senior vice president and chief technology officer, Shaun Gregory, says: “This is a unique partnership for Nasa and is an exciting opportunity to accelerate Woodside’s innovative cognitive science program.

“The partnership fits well with our collaborative approach to innovation. We want the best thinkers from inside and outside our company to be working on solutions that unlock value in our operations.

“It also supports the Western Australian innovation agenda and will help our state realise its potential to be a global centre for scientific and technological excellence.”