Power, control & automation

We design and deliver control and automation systems for offshore, marine and heavy-industrial equipment, with a particular focus on safety-critical, motion-controlled and hydraulically actuated systems. Control architecture is developed to suit the application, environment and failure modes: control philosophy, operating modes, interlocks, degraded and recovery modes and clear transitions between states. Systems behave predictably under normal operation and fail safely under fault or loss of power.

Pragmatic, operator-aware automation

We build manual, assisted and operator-supervised automated systems. Full autonomy is not the default objective, automation is applied where it improves safety, repeatability and control, while keeping operator authority for complex, judgement-based work. And we build it so it can be maintained by the people already on site, like rig electricians, without specialist control engineers flying out to plug in.

Retrofit engineering

A lot of our work is retrofit. safety expectations mean that manual handling and “hands on steel” are no longer acceptable, and the people setting the requirements are the energy companies and developers. Rather than replace serviceable plant, we assess existing equipment, mechanical condition, hydraulic behaviour, load paths, operating constraints and integrate modern control, monitoring and safety functionality to extend the operating envelope. Where a tool handler or iron roughneck can simply be bolted into place, we avoid the cost, risk and hot-worksof major modification.

Where it’s applied

Typical functions include load control, heave-compensation assistance, constant-tension operation, controlled lowering and recovery, pumping regulation and automated pipe, rod and tool handling. Control logic, sensing and actuation are designed together to avoid ambiguous states. This capability is the basis of our control-system intellectual property – AHA, AWOB and ACT, and our overload protection systems.

Remote control systems

Much of what we do is operated remotely, getting people away from moving loads, high-pressure systems and the drill floor. We design and supply wireless walkaround remote control systems, and retrofit remote control onto existing equipment that was built to be operated by hand. This is engineered to suit the machine rather than sold as an off-the-shelf solution –Productised control packages are AHA, AWOB and active constant-tension.