Congratulations to MacGregor for Largest Single Vessel Contract

The centre SFI Offshore Mechatronics congratulates MacGregor with their largest single vessel contract to date. The order consists of a mission-critical system to be installed on the OHT offshore wind foundation installation vessel, Alfa Lift.

For more information see https://gcenode.no/news/macgregors-largest-single-vessel-contract

One key sentence from the link above is: “I would also like to add my appreciation of the trust that OHT has placed in MacGregor, and equally recognise the collaborative team effort that has resulted in the innovative monopile installation solution being developed.”

Resources from SFI Offshore Mechatronics were involved in the pre-study leading up to this order, consisting mainly of simulations and development of concepts for the control algorithms. “Trust” is a key word, and by involving resources from the centre, the customer’s trust in the developed solution was increased.

Here is a YouTube video demonstrating the concept: https://youtu.be/GNIwc36eV0w

PhD Defense at UiA on September 2nd

Daniel Hagen defends his PhD thesis on Wednesday September 2nd, see https://www.uia.no/arrangementer/disputas-daniel-hagen-om-forbedring-av-energieffektivitet-og-bevegelseskontroll-i-lastbaerende-applikasjoner

The title of the thesis is “Improving Energy Efficiency and Motion Control in Load-Carrying Applications using Self-Contained Cylinders” and this is the 8th PhD defense in the centre SFI Offshore Mechatronics. It is possible for the public to listen in on the PhD defense, see the link above.

PhD Defense at NTNU on August 11

Geir Ole Tysse defended his PhD thesis at NTNU on August 11, 2020. The opponents were Professor Oliver Sawodny from the University of Stuttgart in Germany and Professor Jing Zhou from the University of Agder. The title of the thesis was “Modeling and Control of Ship-mounted Cranes”.

The trial lecture was on the topic of “control of robots with arm elasticities” and parts of the assessment were: “The candidate gave a very good overview over the state-of-the-art methods of control of robots with arm elasticities. He focused on methods mainly related to differential geometry. He gave good explanations of the main approaches and gave a very good overview over the theoretical and mathematical methods”.

The candidate made important achievements in modelling of ship cranes and load dynamics, in combination with wave excitation. He made important contributions in controlling the crane payload. As part of achieving this, he developed new methods to estimate the effective cable length. He developed a new method of combining MPC approach to the position in outer loop with a Lyapunov-based oscillation damping controller in the inner loop. He showed the efficiency of this approach in several experiments at a test bed developed at NTNU, as well as in simulations.

The entire PhD thesis is made available in ProjectPlace (WP0 – Publications – PhD Theses) for partners in the centre.

New Lab Equipment for Testing Hydraulic Cylinders

SFI Offshore Mechatronics (WP5) and Mechatronic Innovation Lab are in the final stages of setting up a new lab for testing hydraulic cylinders. The equipment is delivered by Bosch-Rexroth and will be located in MIL’s facilities in Grimstad, Norway. It is expected that the new lab will become operation during Q4-2020.

The equipment will be used to test the condition of up to 4-5 seals located inside the cylinder. Seals of varying condition will be placed inside the cylinder, and then acoustic emission sensors will be used to estimate the condition. During the research work in the centre it will be experimented with sensors located both outside and inside the cylinder.

The equipment is owned by MIL and rented by the SFI OM centre for the next three years. The centre will not use the equipment 100% all the time. Hence, other companies or research institutions interested in using the facility can contact MIL.