Advanced underwater drones and robots are being developed to fix the ocean floor work’s pipelines that work safer, cheaper, and are less polluting. Among the inventions is Eelume, a snake-like robot that is six meters long fitted with sensors and a camera at each end. It can be kept at a docking station at depths up to 500 meters (547 yards) for almost six months without being brought to the surface.
The robot can travel up to 20 kilometres (12.4 miles) before returning to its station to recharge. It can swap out parts for different tasks, including tools to operate subsea valves and cleaning brushes to remove marine growth and sediments.
Based in Trondheim, Norway, the company was spun off from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Liljebäck says that by “enabling the robot to become a subsea resident living in a docking station, it can be mobilized at any time to do inspections and intervention tasks, and thereby reducing the need for costly surface vessels.”
