Perth’s Resources Technology Showcase 2019: Dexterity holding back rise of the robots ... for now, says Woodside’s Shaun Gregory

Woodside Petroleum’s chief technology officer believes robots with comparable human dexterity skills are still five to 10 years away.

Shaun Gregory told the Resources Technology Showcase that the limited dexterity offered by current robotics technologies suggested there was little immediate danger of humans losing physical skills.

“We may lose those physical skills (but) when you look at the robots we are using, certainly not in the very near term,” Mr Gregory said.

While existing robots had a clasp that enabled them to perform some simple tasks, it was “nowhere near as dexterous as a human hand”.

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Woodside has embraced robotics, advanced sensor design and deployment, artificial intelligence, data science and visualisation, even collaborating with NASA, as a means of reducing costs and improving the efficiency and safety of its oil and gas operations.

The NASA robotics collaboration — a rare venture by the US space agency with a listed company — has involved a trial of a NASA-built robonaut that could eventually be deployed on tasks across the Woodside network.

“NASA sees the opportunity to trial robots in an environment on Earth which to some degree has as harsh conditions as they face in space,” Mr Gregory said.

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He sees Woodside making more use of robots for autonomous surveillance or simple operating tasks in the often hot conditions prevailing at its production operations in northern WA, potentially building to maintenance roles on unmanned offshore facilities.

It is also exploring the use of digital twins for its plants, creating exact representations of the physical plants in a digital environment that makes it possible for companies to see every phase of the production process. Lower-cost enabling technologies has put digital twins in the reach of more companies, aiding better monitoring and quality control.

Mr Gregory said Perth companies were “holding our own, if not taking the lead” in resources-focused technologies.

“As I travel, I am constantly reminded that while we don’t set out to be the best at something, quite often we find ourself in that leading space, not by design but just because there are good smart people working on really interesting problems.”

• Back to full coverage of all our keynote speakers
• More news from the Resources Technology Showcase 2019
• Everything to see and do at the free RTS2019 exhibition