Feature article in Inspectioneering: “CUI Robotics: Pushing the envelope”
In the November/December 2019 edition of Inspectioneering, the article “CUI Robotics: Pushing the envelope” was published, which discusses the findings from a series of validation trials initiated by global oil and gas operator Shell, who contracted Quasset to evaluate and verify the current state-of-the-art approaches in CUI robotics on non-magnetic cladding materials. The validation trials were designed to determine which robotic systems are ready or close to release for deploying non-destructive examination (NDE) for CUI detection.
The article, co-written by Sieger Terpstra and Maurice Fransen of Shell and Quasset CTO Timothy Black, outlines the scope of the testing program, which was split into two phases: Phase 1 – Robotic platform testing and Phase 2 – NDE Integration testing. Phase 1 focused on the general capability of four different robotic systems; Phase 2 focused on the ability to integrate NDE equipment with a robotic system. The results of the combination of robot technology and NDE technology are discussed as well as many key takeaways in moving forward.