Flexible Architecture for Transparency of a Bilateral Tele-Operation System implemented in Mobile Anthropomorphic Robots for the Oil and Gas Industry

Abstract

The main problem of the exploration and production sector in the oil and gas industry worldwide, and especially in Ecuador, lies in the extreme environmental conditions inherent to each oilfield, which makes it difficult to perform daily tasks of maintenance or equipment verification. Due to these harsh environments, this industry has seen the need to implement bilateral tele-operation systems with a high degree of scalability that allows the interaction between equipment and trained personnel that could safely perform maintenance activities. In order to achieve this objective, it is necessary to select a standardized messaging protocol that meets the current needs of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and allows the efficient use of communication channels bandwidth. This paper presents the design of a bilateral tele-operation system that allows the operator to carry out maintenance or remote inspection activities in the Well-Pads located in Petroamazonas EP, Ecuador. For the development of this system, the MQTT protocol is selected over other IIoT protocols because of its high speed of response in real time as well as its low consumption of resources. In the local site a virtual reality environment developed in a 3D graphic engine is implemented. Through input devices an infinite transparency is obtained, besides transmitting the experience and skills of the operator to the slave through the senses of sight, hearing, and kinesthesis.