Home

NASA robonaut gets to work at Woodside

Headshot of Peter Milne
Peter MilneThe West Australian
US Consul-General Rachel Cooke and Woodside chief technology officer Shaun Gregory with R2C3 at Woodside in Perth.
Camera IconUS Consul-General Rachel Cooke and Woodside chief technology officer Shaun Gregory with R2C3 at Woodside in Perth. Credit: Nic Ellis

A NASA robonaut has arrived in Perth for a five-year stay with Woodside to allow the oil and gas company to develop ways for future robots to complete tasks such as turning valves and sensing gas leaks.

NASA and General Motors developed robonauts to work alongside astronauts and to do dangerous work alone.

Woodside’s robot, R2C3, is only the third to leave the Johnson Space Centre in Houston. The others are at the International Space Station and at GM.

Woodside chief technology officer Shaun Gregory said the company’s operations personnel had identified 300 potential tasks for robots at its LNG plants and offshore platforms.

Now, if a problem on the unmanned Pluto platform was detected, a maintenance crew was flown out on a helicopter for a task that might be as simple as turning a valve.

Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE

Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.

READ NOW

The robonaut can work safely alongside humans, and only slight force is needed to stop movement.

Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.

Sign up for our emails