Abstract
This chapter presents the use of Robotics in the Inspection and Maintenance of Offshore Wind as another highly challenging environment where autonomous robotics systems and digital transformations are proving high value. © 2024 Andry Maykol Pinto | Aníbal Matos | João V. Amorim Marques | Daniel Filipe Campos | Maria Inês Pereira | Rafael Claro | Eeva Mikola | João Formiga | Mohammed El Mobachi | Jaap-Jan Stoker | Jonathan Prevosto | Shashank Govindaraj | David Ribas | Pere Ridao | Luca Aceto.

Abstract
The increasing adoption of robotic solutions for inspection tasks in challenging environments is becoming increasingly prevalent, particularly in the offshore wind energy industry. This trend is driven by the critical need to safeguard the integrity and operational efficiency of offshore infrastructure. Consequently, the design of inspection vehicles must comply with rigorous requirements established by the offshore Operation and Maintenance (O&M) industry. This work presents the design of an autonomous surface vehicle (ASV), named Nautilus, specifically tailored to withstand the demanding conditions of offshore O&M scenarios. The design encompasses both hardware and software architectures, ensuring Nautilus's robustness and adaptability to the harsh maritime environment. It presents a compact hull capable of operating in moderate sea states (wave height up to 2.5 m), with a modular hardware and software architecture that is easily adapted to the mission requirements. It has a perception payload and communication system for edge and real-time computing, communicates with a Shore Control Center and allows beyond visual line-of-sight operations. The Nautilus software architecture aims to provide the necessary flexibility for different mission requirements to offer a unified software architecture for O&M operations. Nautilus's capabilities were validated through the professional testing process of the ATLANTIS Test Center, involving operations in both near-real and real-world environments. This validation process culminated in Nautilus's reaching a Technology Readiness Level 8 and became the first ASV to execute autonomous tasks at a floating offshore wind farm located in the Atlantic.

Abstract

Abstract
Given the increased interest in offshore wind energy, there is a greater need for advancements in operation and maintenance technology. As a result, robotic solutions are required to avoid human risky behavior and reduce associated operational costs. In order to accommodate the need for inspecting multiple domains, multiple robotic vehicles are utilized, which requires the deployment of control stations that can effectively monitor, facilitate communication among different vehicles, and ensure successful completion of the overall mission. A shore control centre (SCC) is a communication software infrastructure capable of monitoring, localizing and planning missions for a group of multi-domain heterogeneous robots within a local network. This paper proposes an SCC as: (i) an active monitor by continuously observing the local behaviour of each robot and the global progress of the mission and its safety; (ii) a mission planner that provides and supervises its execution while constantly checking for critical failures and intervening in the case of unexpected events. Also, The control centre is able to connect to multiple vehicles from various domains and monitor real-time data. Accordingly, validation procedures were carried out in real conditions.

Abstract
The demonstration of robotic technologies in real environments is essential for technology developers and end-users to fully showcase the benefits of theirs solutions, and contributes to the promotion of the transition of inspection and maintenance methodologies towards automated robotic strategies. However, before allowing technologies to be demonstrated in real, operating offshore wind-farms, there is a need to de-risk the technology, to ensure its safe operation offshore. As part of the ATLANTIS project, a pioneer pilot infrastructure, the ATLANTIS Test Centre, was installed in Viana do Castelo, Portugal. This infrastructure will allow the demonstration of key enabling robotic technologies for offshore inspection and maintenance. The Test Centre is composed of two distinct testbeds, and a supervisory control centre, enabling the de-risking, testing, validation and demonstration of technologies, in both near-real and real environments. This paper presents the details of the Coastal Testbed of the ATLANTIS Test Centre, from implementation to available resources and infrastructures and environment details.