Ross Robotics

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 You’ve heard of R2-D2, C-3PO and the Curiosity rover – but have you heard of the robot named after Scotland’s national dish?    🏫 ‘Haggis’ was named in a competition involving school pupils in Keith, who welcomed the robot to their school along with some of our staff. During the visits pupils were given the chance to operate Haggis and find out more about its activities. ⚡️ Currently deployed at SSEN Transmission’s high-voltage direct current (HVDC) switching station at Blackhillock near the Moray town, Haggis – otherwise known as EXTRM MK4.1 – is designed to monitor equipment between planned outages, reducing the possibility of disruption to the transmission network.    ⚙️ Using a series of cameras and sensors including state-of-the-art visual, thermal, and acoustic imaging, the data it collects means staff can make informed decisions in relation to any future maintenance.   ⚡️ Our video shows Haggis in action during a trial deployment at Noss Head switching station earlier this year. ➡️ Read more: https://lnkd.in/e6axdW2Y Ross Robotics #autonomousrobots #innovation #Scotland

Great to be involved with this fantastic promotion of UK innovation!

2 of 2 this week…

As we complete our final testing at Elia Group's ALEGrO HVDC converter station, before leaving the robot in the energised HVDC valve hall for another year of operations, it makes me wonder how long before all transmission system operators will be incorporating robotic dynamic remote condition monitoring as a matter of normal practice into their HVDC operating environments... Like so many other industries in this 'Industry 4.0' world, forward thinking TSOs, like Elia Group, 50Hertz Transmission GmbH, Nemo Link Limited, and Réseau de Transport d'Électricité (RTE) are starting to reap the benefits of increasing digitisation in their operations. The use of fixed sensors is given in these environments, but augmenting those with robot-mounted dynamic sensors that can autonomously monitor large areas filled with dense with complex systems and difficult to see components, with AI-driven analytics that alerts human operators to potential anomalies, is extremely powerful. Greater coverage and more detailed, comprehensive, and repeatable data collection powers ever-better AI analysis as these systems learn, and this all adds up to a better understanding of the structural health, condition, and operational status of these critical infrastructure assets, enhancing reliability, maintenance planning, and uptime. What's not to love about all that.

Final few test inspection runs with 50Hertz Transmission GmbH prior to live operation when the Kontek HVDC Interconnector is energised…… #hvdc #autonomousinspection #tso #renewable #high_voltage #energy #electricity #transmission #interconnection #robot #inspection #automation #energytransition #digitisation #maintenance #robotics #gridtechnology #renewableenergy #renewables #predictivemaintenance

Our second of two deployments this week in Europe is with Elia Group at the ALEGrO HVDC converter station near Lixhe in Belgium (and we have a second team out this week at the Kontek HVDC Converter Station near Bentwisch in Germany, operated by 50 Hertz).   This time, we revisit one of our first deployments for its annual checkup and service. Our systems are deployed in HVDC Converter Halls and DC Halls to provide real-time autonomous condition monitoring in the harsh environment of the Valve Halls and DC Halls. Unlike many other Hv facilities, such as substations and switchyards, humans cannot enter the HVDC Valve Hall during operations, so the deployment of autonomous robots, equipped with a suite of smart sensors, allows operators to gain greater visibility into the condition of critical components and connectors, without the need for costly, time-consuming, and disruptive interruptions. The system helps to detect potential issues in the hall, so reducing the risk of unexpected outages and minimising its downtime for ad hoc repair work to be carried out, and this helps maximise the operation time of the converter hall and supports the continuous flow of green electricity across the grid. A big thank you to our customer-partner Elia Group, and for all personnel involved in the planning and on the ground support. For those wanting to read more, here is the Elia press release from last years deployment: https://lnkd.in/epjYh6e3 #hvdc #autonomousinspection #tso #renewable #high_voltage #energy #electricity #transmission #interconnection #robot #inspection #automation #energytransition #digitisation #maintenance #robotics #gridtechnology #renewableenergy #renewables #predictivemaintenance

Our latest deployment this week is with 50Hertz Transmission GmbH at the Kontek HVDC Interconnector, linking Germany with Energinet in Denmark. Thank you to the team at 50Hertz Transmission GmbH for you support and hospitality this week, especially Georg Frubing and Joerg Schuster! We hope to be back next year to deploy your next robot at the CGS Interconnector! #hvdc #autonomousinspection #tso #renewable #high_voltage #energy #electricity #transmission #interconnection #robot #inspection #automation #energytransition #digitisation #maintenance #robotics #gridtechnology #renewableenergy #renewables #predictivemaintenance

Un robot 100 % autonome pour assurer l'inspection automatique des "stations de conversion" au sein des interconnexions électriques reliant la France à ses voisins européens ? C'est aujourd'hui une réalité, grâce au robot mis au point par la start-up anglaise Ross Robotics et expérimenté par nos équipes à Baixas, sur la liaison électrique entre la France et l'Espagne. La station de conversion, clé de voûte essentielle au bon fonctionnement d'une interconnexion, est un espace non accessible lorsqu'il est en service : de ce fait et pour des raisons de sécurité, cet espace ne peut pas être directement inspecté par des humains. D'où l'aide bienvenue de ce robot autonome. Découvrez en détail les enseignements de cette expérimentation 👇

We’re excited to introduce the first autonomous robot of its kind in Scotland to our Blackhillock HVDC #substation, thanks to the innovative minds at Ross Robotics as part of our Network Innovation Allowance project! 🤖 ⚡️ The #robot, known as EXTRM MK4.1, is set to transform how we monitor and maintain high-voltage direct current (#HVDC) #infrastructure and is designed to access areas that are out of bounds for #engineers once energised, providing round-the-clock monitoring of our equipment for early detection of potential issues and maintenance planning, ensuring the reliability and safety of our operations. 👷♀️ EXTRM MK4.1 is capable of withstanding the extreme conditions within high-voltage #electricity systems. It's equipped with advanced cameras and sensors, including visual, thermal, and acoustic imaging technologies, to detect abnormalities. The data collected helps our asset operators in making decisions for future maintenance. 👨🔧👩🔧 ➡️ Read all about the innovative robot and how its helping our teams work safely: https://lnkd.in/ehsazFXC ⬇️ Watch the video below to see the robot in action! #autonomousrobots #innovation

A great event yesterday evening organised by British Embassy Brussels to celebrate 25 years of energy #interconnection between Belgium and the UK. We were very honoured to be invited to display one of our HVDC inspection robots next to the planned Elia Energy Island and to meet the UK Minister of Energy, Andrew Bowie, and Elia Transmission CEO, Frederic Dunon! #hvdc #autonomousinspection #tso #renewable #high_voltage #energy #electricity #transmission #interconnection #robot #inspection #automation #energytransition #digitisation #maintenance #robotics #gridtechnology #renewableenergy #renewables #predictivemaintenance