SPE Technical Section • RAS TS

Robotics and Autonomous Systems for the Energy Industry

The SPE Robotics and Autonomous Systems Technical Section (RASTS) is a collaborative hub for engineers, operators, researchers, innovators, and technology adopters exploring how robotic and autonomous systems can strengthen safety, efficiency, reliability, and sustainability across energy operations.

From land-based logistics and facility inspection to aerial monitoring, marine surface systems, and subsea intervention, RASTS connects the full operating landscape with the digital, sensing, control, and power architectures that make autonomy practical and useful in the field.

Join SPE / RASTS Meet the Board Get Involved

About RASTS

Where robotics meets operational reality

Robotics and autonomous systems are no longer peripheral technologies. In the energy sector, they are becoming part of how companies inspect assets, monitor conditions, reduce personnel exposure, extend reach into harsh environments, and improve the speed and quality of operational decision-making. RASTS exists to help the industry make that transition thoughtfully and technically well.

What the section is designed to do

RASTS provides a focal point for technical exchange on remotely operated and autonomous systems applied across the energy value chain. The section emphasizes not just the hardware platform, but also the sensing, software, communications, control logic, power systems, human-machine interaction, and operating practices required to deliver practical value.

The result is a section built around field relevance: technologies that can support safer operations, higher-quality inspection and data capture, lower manual exposure, improved asset awareness, and more resilient workflows in increasingly complex operating environments.

Inspection & integrity Remote operations Autonomous missions Digital integration Perception & sensing Power & endurance Human-machine teaming Safety & sustainability

Robotics and autonomous systems introduction graphic

Technical Scope

A broad operating envelope for robotics and autonomous systems

RASTS is intentionally cross-domain. The section covers the physical platforms, supporting subsystems, and domain-specific use cases needed to deploy robotics and autonomous systems effectively in energy operations.

🚁

Aerial & ground systems

Drones, autonomous ground vehicles, and mobile robots for inspection, monitoring, logistics, surveillance, emergency response support, emissions screening, and routine facility operations.

🌊

Surface & subsea robotics

ROVs, AUVs, and autonomous surface vessels for offshore inspection, intervention support, seabed survey, remote sensing, marine integrity work, and operations in harsh or inaccessible environments.

🛰️

Sensing, navigation & perception

Vision systems, LiDAR, sonar, acoustic sensing, localization, mapping, edge intelligence, and data fusion that enable machines to understand their environment and perform reliably.

⚙️

Autonomy, control & mission logic

Mission planning, supervisory control, autonomy levels, exception handling, fail-safe behavior, remote collaboration, and decision architectures that make systems usable in industrial settings.

🔋

Power, endurance & deployment systems

Battery strategy, charging, tethering, docking, power management, environmental survivability, and the supporting infrastructure required for persistent field deployment.

🔗

Integration with digital operations

Robotics linked to asset integrity systems, digital twins, condition monitoring, AI-enabled analytics, production/facilities workflows, and broader operational decision-support environments.

Why It Matters

Why robotics and autonomous systems matter for energy

Robotics and autonomous systems create value when they are aligned with concrete operational needs. For energy systems, that often means better access, safer inspection, higher data quality, faster response, reduced routine exposure, and improved continuity in environments where human presence is limited, costly, or risky.

Operational value pathways

Reduce personnel exposure during inspection, surveillance, and intervention preparation.
Extend inspection reach into remote, elevated, confined, subsea, and otherwise hazardous environments.
Increase inspection frequency and condition awareness without proportionally increasing manpower.
Improve data capture for integrity, environmental monitoring, and operational decision support.
Support lower-impact operations through smarter logistics, targeted intervention, and persistent monitoring.
Enable more resilient workflows where remote supervision and autonomy complement human expertise.

Adoption is not just about the robot

Successful deployment depends on the full system around it: mission design, communications, data usability, site readiness, procedures, competency, human trust, cybersecurity, maintenance, and reliability.

That is why RASTS looks beyond novelty. The section is a place to discuss what actually enables industrial adoption and what still limits it.

Readiness Reliability Human factors Cybersecurity Field deployment Scalability

Section Priorities

What RASTS can convene for the community

A strong technical section should help members see what is emerging, what is working in the field, and where the biggest technical gaps and collaboration opportunities remain.

🎤

Technical programs

Webinars, panels, workshops, and discussion sessions on robotics deployment, autonomy architecture, sensing, offshore systems, facility applications, and lessons learned from operations.

📚

Knowledge resources

Curated blogs, technical notes, recordings, and community discussion that help members track developments and share operationally relevant experience.

🤝

Cross-disciplinary exchange

Collaboration across facilities, offshore, digital, instrumentation, HSE, integrity, and data communities where robotics intersects with real operating systems.

🌍

Global member network

A place for professionals across regions and career stages to compare problems, use cases, adoption barriers, and opportunities for technical leadership.

Resources & Events

Featured recordings, reading, and community links

A few useful entry points into the RASTS knowledge base: section-related webinars, public recordings, JPT topic coverage, and the broader community feed.

Energy Stream

🤖

In Service Inspection Capabilities and Future Trends

Join speaker Matt Crist, V.P., Chief Inspector at Square Robot, and moderator Junio Palomba, EMEA MD at Flyability, to discover how robotic technology is enabling disruptive in-service tank inspections. The webinar looks at the different types of robots on offer, the sensors they use, and their current capabilities in meeting the requirements of industry-approved standards.

View in Energy Stream!

Tech Talk

👥

SPE London Tech-Talk with RAS TS & DSEA TS

A joint workshop at Imperial College London, during which Giovanni Massari and Cristian Nevoso (Saipem), Andrew Bell (NetZero Technology Centre), and Nick Tudor (D-RisQ), discuss how Robotics and Autonomous Systems are impacting and shaping the future of the energy sector. The YouTube recording of the full event is available here.

View here!

JPT

📖

Robotics and Autonomous Systems on JPT

Did you know the Journal of Petroleum Technology features “Robotics and Unmanned Systems” as a searchable topic? Look at the selection of articles through the shortcut below.

View Here!

Follow the RAS TS page on LinkedIn!

Share your interest in unmanned systems & robotics for the energy sectors, and stay current on section activity and community discussion.

Follow here!

Dec 2025

▶

Robotics for the Energy Transition

The latest RASTS event from December 2025, recorded and published on YouTube by the SPE Italian Section. This roundtable explores how robotics and autonomous systems are becoming core enablers of safer, more efficient, and more sustainable energy operations.

Watch on YouTube!

Get Involved

Ways to participate in the RASTS community

Whether you build robotic systems, deploy them in the field, study autonomy, or want to understand how these technologies fit into energy operations, RASTS is a place to contribute and learn.

Attend and contribute to events

Join section programming to hear technical case studies, emerging applications, deployment lessons, and cross-sector perspectives on robotics and autonomous systems.

Explore the section

Share knowledge and start discussions

Use the community to exchange insights, ask questions, highlight field applications, and help shape the technical conversation around robotics in energy.

Join the conversation

Connect with the leadership team

Meet the board, follow section activities, and identify where you can contribute as a speaker, volunteer, subject-matter expert, young professional, or student member.

View section officers

You can replace the CTA links above with the exact Higher Logic event, library, discussion, and blog URLs if you want the homepage to deep-link into those pages directly.

Home