The BugWright2 project

Autonomous Robotic Inspection and Maintenance on Ship Hulls

Partners

The BugWright2 consortium consist of highly qualified partners which cover the entire spectrum of know-how necessary to carry out the project.

The Consortium is composed of 9 academics partners (CNRS, UPORTO, UIB, INSA, RWTH, UNI-KLU, NTNU, UT, WMU) and 11 industrials partners (CETIM, LSL, RBP, BEYE, RINA, GLM, APDL, AASA, TRH, IEIC, DANAOS, SBK).

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique – Dream Lab:

As the result of a strategic alliance between the Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT) and the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), a joint GIT/CNRS research laboratory, the CNRS IRL 2958 was established at the GeorgiaTech Lorraine campus in Metz, France, in March of 2006.

So far, the laboratory has been conducting a unique transatlantic collaborative program of research in secure networks and smart materials. Research faculty and graduate students from GIT, French universities, and other CNRS laboratories work on joint research projects sponsored by industry and by local and national governments.

The founding associate partners in this unique laboratory are the University of Metz, the University of Franche-Comté, the École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers (ENSAM), and L’École Supérieure d’Électricité (Supélec).

Centre Technique des industries mécaniques:

The Technical Centre for Mechanical Industry, was established in France in 1965 in order to improve companies’ competitiveness through mechanical engineering, transfer of innovations and advanced manufacturing solutions.

Universidade do Porto, Undewater Systems and Technology Laboratory:

The Laboratório de Sistemas e Tecnologia Subaquática (LSTS) is an interdisciplinary research laboratory established in 1997 with researchers drawn from Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and from Computer Science. The LSTS is specialized on the design, construction, and operation of unmanned underwater, surface and air vehicles and on the development of tools and technologies for the deployment of networked vehicle systems.

UIB

Universitat de les Illes Balears – Higher Polytechnic School:

The Polytechnic School (EPS) of the University of the Balearic Islands was born in 1999 as a result of the merger of the Faculty of Computer Science and the Polytechnic University School (EUP). The first one has taught Computer Engineering since 1988. Some of the studies taught by the EUP have been at the UIB since 1985.

Currently, the EPS offers Degree in Building Engineering, Degree in Industrial and Automatic Electronic Engineering, Degree in Computer Engineering, Degree in Mathematics, Degree in Telematic Engineering, Degree of Agri-Food and Rural Engineering and Double Degree in Mathematics and Telematics Engineering.

Institut National des Sciences Appliquées Lyon:

The Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon or INSA Lyon is a Grande École (French highly selective higher education establishments) forming multidisciplinary engineers.

The school was founded in 1957 to train highly qualified engineers, support continuing education, and conduct research. The five-year curriculum aims at training engineers who possess human qualities and are well versed in the primary areas of science and engineering.

Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen:

The RWTH Aachen University was founded in 1870 after Prince William of Prussia decided to use a donation to set up an institute of technology somewhere in the Rhine Province.

As Germany’s westernmost important city, Aachen is situated at the heart of Europe and very close to the Dutch and Belgian border, so RWTH Aachen – or Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen – benefits greatly from a mix of cultures and languages. Although faculties of philosophy and medicine were introduced in the 1960s, it is still most famous for natural sciences and engineering – and, since 2014, has joined forces with the city to give a prestigious annual Engineering Award to a prominent figure in the field.

The world’s first wind tunnel and particle accelerator were both developed at RWTH Aachen. Major innovations created onsite include a pioneering aircraft made entirely of metal and a diesel soot filter. It also aims to be to the top German university of technology and one of the five best in Europe. The world’s first wind tunnel and particle accelerator were both developed at RWTH Aachen. Major innovations created onsite include a pioneering aircraft made entirely of metal and a diesel soot filter.

It also aims to be to the top German university of technology and one of the five best in Europe.

Universität Klagenfurt:

The University of Klagenfurt (or Universität Klagenfurt or Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt) in Austria is the largest research and higher education institution in the state of Carinthia. Starting out as an Educational Science College in 1970, it then became the Universität für Bildungswissenschaften (University for Educational Sciences) in 1975.

It became the Universität Klagenfurt in 1993 and the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt in 2004. Alongside the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (Italy) and the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), it is among the three most southern universities in the German-speaking world.

Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet: 

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology is a public research university in Norway. NTNU has the main national responsibility for education and research in engineering and technology, and is the successor of Norway’s preeminent engineering university, the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH), established by Parliament in 1910 as Norway’s national engineering university. In addition to engineering and natural sciences, the university offers higher education in other academic disciplines ranging from medicine, psychology, social sciences, the arts, teacher education, architecture and fine art.

Universität Trier: 

Trier University (Universität Trier in German) was founded in the German city of Trier 1473 by the Archbishop of Trier, Jakob I. von Sierck. Following the French occupation of the Rhineland, the French administration ordered the closure of the universities of Cologne, Mainz, Bonn and Trier in 1798. Trier University was re-established in 1970 after a 172-year hiatus.

It now has 15,000 students (including more than 10 per cent international students), making it internationally oriented and regionally rooted on the geographic edge of Germany, but in the heart of Europe. There is particularly strong collaboration with university partners in neighbouring France, Belgium and Luxembourg, with a renowned research focusing on European history and present-day Europe.

World Maritime University: 

The World Maritime University in Malmö, Sweden is a postgraduate maritime university founded by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialized agency of the United Nations.

Established by an IMO Assembly Resolution in 1983, the aim of WMU is to further enhance the objectives and goals of IMO and IMO member states around the world through education, research, and capacity building. WMU is considered an international university and has been granted the status of a UN institution by its host country, the Government of Sweden. Serving as a center for people of many nationalities to participate in teaching and learning, WMU encourages international co-operation to address international maritime problems and coordinate international action.

Programmes offered include Ph.D. and M.Sc. degrees in Maritime Affairs. Post-graduate diplomas are offered via distance education in Marine Insurance, Maritime Energy, Executive Maritime Management, and International Maritime Law. Professional Development Courses (PDCs) and international conferences and events cater to the professional maritime community, as well as research.

Lakeside Lab: 

Lakeside Labs is a hub for science and innovation on self-organizing networked systems. A space for inspiration and crossdisciplinary thinking.

Roboplanet:

Magnetic crawlers for inspection and corrosion detection: ROBOPLANET develops mobile robotic instruments to assist experts in corrosion mapping and inspection. Those instruments are deployed for corrosion control in storage tanks, pipe and maritime industries. ROBOPLANET also develops assistive robots for Defense. Every day, engineers at ROBOPLANET conceive, optimise and qualify robots to increase experts security and operational efficiency in their interventions. To build those robots, we mobilise acoustic, magnetic, electronic, mechanic and software internal competences.

Blueye Robotics:

The company originally had the consumer market in mind but as the team never compromised on creating a user friendly and robust product, we pivoted into serving professional clients.

Blueye has delivered technology across a vast range of customer applications ranging from dam inspections, aquaculture, ship inspections, law enforcement, wastewater & drinking water management, marine surveillance, tourism and education (to mention some). Coming from Norway serving our home market has been the focus area. Still, we are fortunate to have clients in more than 40 countries worldwide. 

RINA:

RINA was founded in Genoa in 1861 under the name Registro Italiano Navale to meet the needs of Italian maritime operators. Since its foundation, Registro Italiano Navale has been an instrument of support for economic development in the areas where it operates.

Over 150 years later, the role of RINA has not changed but it has expanded to meet the needs of a constantly evolving international economy. RINA S.p.A. operates competitively in the market and offers assessment, control, certification and research services, in compliance with national and international rules, related to materials, design, technology, products and plants, as well as undertaking tasks entrusted by governmental bodies and other authorities.

Glafcos Marine:

Glafcos is a technical group, composed of Naval Architects, Marine, Mechanical and Electrical Engineers and, Programmers, which provides multi-disciplinary advisory services, software products and systems in the maritime and civil industries. Glafcos’ diversity of services covers a wide spectrum of ship needs and every stage of a ship’s life, from design, through building, sea trials and operation and diversity of products ranging from advanced navigational suites to smart house applications and innovative turn-key solutions.

The main areas of maritime services provided by Glafcos Marine are Consultancy services for strategic planning and problem solving of technical maritime issues faced by shipping companies. Technical support for every day operations of shipping companies or during major projects either new buildings, conversions and major repairs and Inspection services ranging from condition identification surveys to sale purchase and damage surveys.

Glafcos is also an accredited service supplier member of Classification Societies under the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) in the field of non-destructive testing. Glafcos, along with the company’s subsidiaries in China, has an international network of collaborators in the wider area of supporting ship operations, including shipyards, ship-owners and ship-operators.

Administracao dos portos do Douro e Leixoes:

The mission of APDL port is to bring the Port of Leixões to a benchmark position for the logisitical supply chains of the Iberian Peninsula Atlantic coastal area. The vision is to create a competitive and modern reference point on the Atlantic Front, in which new factors of competitiveness come to the fore: connectivity between the different port agents, the added value services, and the information and communication system.

Arsenal do Alfeite:

Arsenal do Alfeite S.A. became operational on September 1, 2009, driven by the need to become a national and international reference entity in the marine industry, a need imposed by the technological development in this sector. It is dedicated mainly to the fulfilment of the repairing and maintenance activities needs of Portuguese Navy’s naval force, providing its services also to other NATO members, naval forces and commercial entities.

Arsenal do Alfeite, S.A. employs the most advantage technology available in the fields of electronics, optronics, armament, mechanics and electrotechnical engineering. Its quality management system is certified in accordance with the ISO 9001:2008 standard and the Portuguese Institute for Accreditation (IPAC) accredits a set of labs at its disposal, under the NP EN ISO/IEC 17025 standard. Among other skills it is worth highlighting the project designing capacity for new vessels, modifications and conversions, as well as, being a provider of consultancy and other specialized industrial services.

In Extenso Innovation Croissance:

Consulting company specialised in innovation strategy management. It provides its customers with a 20+year-experience in innovation strategy and marketing, support in project regional, national and European funding, industrial performance, valorisation and technology transfer. In Extenso Innovation Croissance is the French broker of European technology transfer programs of the ESA and FUTTA II.

With 9 agencies in France for local action with a wide variety of players – start-ups, SMEs, middle-size companies, large groups, Incubators, Competitiveness Clusters, Local Authorities…- our 100 expert consultants operate at the heart of the innovative ecosystem to offer entrepreneurs support developed using methodologies specifically designed to accelerate the creation of value, in-depth knowledge of their technologies and of innovative and sustainable growth models.

Trondheim Havn:

Trondheim Harbor IKS is an inter-municipal company, owned by 13 municipalities in the Trøndelag region. They operate and manage port areas on behalf of the owner municipalities, and organize infrastructure for freight transport, passenger traffic, sea tourism and leisure boats. The overall national goal is for more goods to be transferred from road to sea in order to reduce environmentally harmful emissions, safer roads and reduce road wear and maintenance costs.
The Port of Trondheim conducts a special statutory regulation under the Port and Water Act (HFL).
The social mission is to contribute to increased maritime transport of goods and passengers, to facilitate good accessibility, safe transport and proper use of the sea areas, and to safeguard environmental, safety and emergency preparedness.

Danaos Shipping Company:

Danaos Shipping is a leading company in ship management. Currently, DANAOS is managing a fleet of 60 container-ships. The distinct edge in advanced shipping technology and long track record of safety, efficiency, and environmental responsibility has helped the company to forge lasting relationships with its customers. Danaos has a rich background in research activity dedicated to innovation in ship operation.

DANAOS has participated in several projects funded by EU orientated towards advancing maritime service. 

Star bulk shipmanagement:

Star Bulk is a global ship manager of seaborne transportation that provides worldwide sustainable solutions in the dry bulk sector, transporting both major and minor bulks such as iron ore, coal, grain, bauxite, fertilizers and steel products.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grand agreement No 871260.