BP is going live this week with a remote sensoring
application for shipping based on wireless technology it helped to
develop through a proof-of-concept implementation.The chief
technology officer sold the idea to business managers to get
backing for a commercially developed system.
The petrochemicals company is deploying a wireless mesh network
based on 26 computing devices called “motes” for remote sensoring
on the Loch Rannoch, a shuttle tanker that operates out of the BP
oil terminal in the Shetland Isles.
Remote sensors will gather vibration data from 500 locations on
the ship, replacing a manual process, and will allow BP to perform
timely preventative maintenance.
Following a successful trial on the Loch Rannoch, Harry Cassar,
technology director at BP’s chief technology office, presented the
findings to users in the main areas of BP’s business, including
refineries, exploration, production and gas distribution. “I wanted
to try to develop motes as a platform for other areas of the
business,” he said.
During 2005, Cassar’s team worked with Intel, sensor
manufacturer Rockwell Automation and motes hardware developer
Crossbow to develop a commercial version of the Loch Rannoch
proof-of-concept.
Cassar originally spotted the motes technology in 2003,
attracted by the fact that the device was a complete wireless
platform. Wireless technologies fare badly in industrial
applications, since metal surfaces play havoc with signals. But
motes offer resilience since they operate as a mesh network, so
data can be transmitted even if parts of the network are
inoperable.
BP’s chief technology office aims to develop further
applications using emerging technologies.