Eelume

The Eelume is an autonomous underwater vehicle being developed by Eelume AS, in partnership with Kongsberg Maritime and Equinor.[1][2]

Function

The Eelume is primarily designed to inspect, maintain and repair subsea infrastructure, primarily for offshore drilling drilling installations.[2][3] It may also have military applications, including for mine countermeasures and undersea surveillance.[2]

The Eelume is intended to be able to dive 500 meters beneath the surface.[4]

The Eelume is designed to be either entirely autonomous, or capable of being controlled remotely by an operator.[5] The Eelume is intended to be deployed permanently underwater, housed at subsea docking stations.[6]

Development

The Eelume was tested at the PREZIOSO Linjebygg Subsea Test Center near Trondheim in November and December 2016.[4] Eelume CEO Arne Kjørsvik has said they anticipate the vehicle being available on the market in late 2019.[4]

The company designing Eelume began in 2015 as a spinoff of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU),[4] founded by NTNU professor Kristin Ytterstad Pettersen.[7]

References
  1. Brokaw, Alex (April 21, 2016). "This terrifying eel-robot will perform maintenance on undersea equipment". The Verge.
  2. Carl, David (February 24, 2018). "Kongsberg to test Eelume unmanned subsea residency vehicle". Jane's Information Group.
  3. Thomas, Nathalie (April 18, 2017). "North Sea producers turn to robots to cut costs". Financial Times. Statoil is working with Eelume, a Norwegian underwater robotics company, on developing a snakelike swimming robot that can both inspect and carry out easy repairs on subsea infrastructure such as pipes.
  4. Addison, Velda (March 29, 2017). "Eelume Aims To Go Deeper With Robotic Subsea Snake". Hart Energy.
  5. Liljebäck, Pål; Mills, Ricard. "Eelume: A Flexible and Subsea Resident IMR vehicle". Kongsberg Maritime.
  6. Atherton, Kelsey D. (February 17, 2017). "Watch a snake robot wriggle through a Norwegian fjord". Popular Science. Once outfitted, the robots can settle into their watery home: Eelume AS designed them to stay underwater permanently, in a little docking station on the bottom of the sea. From there, they can swim out to inspect and repair undersea infrastructure, like pipelines or oil rigs, without any concern about the weather above the ocean's surface.
  7. Nilsen, Kjersti Lunden (20 December 2019). "Subsea "Snake Robot" Inventor Wins Prestigious Cybernetics Prize". Maritime Executive.


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