Scout 137 would be a full drone device which avoids the need for scaffolding or climbing in tanks. The aim is to make tank examinations more effective and safer for surveyors while maintaining the same level of efficiency and minimizing consumer downtime.
Scout Drone Inspection, a Norwegian startup, has created the Scout 137 drone. The quadcopter has a 4K video camera, a LiDAR package for navigation, obstacle detection, and six LED spotlights with a maximum brightness over 10,000 lumens. A cable passes up and out of the tank transmits real-time video from the drone to its operator's control tablet; the tether also supplies mains power to the aircraft, so battery life isn't a concern.
Humans must search the liquid-carrying tanks on tanker ships for cracks on a daily basis. However, it is believed that a new drone can complete the task even more easily and efficiently. When doing such examinations, workers must usually descend into each tank and examine each of the boundaries from start to finish. They could be needed to construct concrete slabs, scaling poles, or a rubber raft floating on water within the tank to do this.
The drone creates a 3D visual map of the interior of the tank as it travels. If the controller or the Scout's cloud-based image-analysis program detects any cracks or any other defects, they could be identified on the map so that repair teams might spot it. Moreover, inspections that might have taken some time could only be completed in a matter of hours, according to the group. After being field-tested by oil and gas firms including Aker BP, Equinor, Altera Infrastructure and DNV, The Scout 137 drone device has already been delivered to its first corporate clients.
Geir Fuglerud, Director of Offshore Classification at DNV GL – Maritime, stated that “This new test shows the next step in automation by using artificial intelligence to process live content. As a class, we are constantly working to leverage technological advancements to make our surveys more effective and better for surveyors.”
