OGTC Project Approved for Return To Scene

Aberdeen-based Return To Scene Limited, part of James Fisher and Sons plc, is to develop a game-changing enabler to offshore automation, poised to deliver unprecedented efficiency gains and savings across oil and gas.

Securing a significant funding award from the Oil & Gas Technology Centre (OGTC), Return To Scene has kickstarted development of its visual positioning system, R2S VPS. The project is the largest to have been approved to date by the OGTC’s Digital Solutions Centre.

Addressing industry drivers, successful delivery of the R2S VPS will propel automation, improve offshore HSE and deliver efficiency gains measured in hundreds of millions of pounds. R2S VPS will tackle key challenges in the automation of offshore oil and gas, allowing people and machines to identify their location on complex offshore assets via data captured from mobile device or body worn cameras. 

The project brings together an incredibly strong and innovative team that includes Return To Scene’s own development team, BP as long-running user of R2S technology and industry partner, technical support from Microsoft and a coterie of pioneering expertise in software developers Codify, AR for enterprise specialist Mozenix and leading cloud consultants Pulsant.  

Return To Scene’s Managing Director, Bob Donnelly commented that:

“Our research across oil and gas has returned a universal need for and interest in a solution to the challenge of knowing accurately where people and autonomous vehicles are on the platform. R2S VPS will deliver this without the need for the installation of additional hardware such as RFID tags or QR barcodes. We are confident that R2S VPS will deliver sizable and tangible benefits to oil and gas.

“We are delighted to have won the support of the OGTC to bring our R2S VPS concept to life. We have a longstanding relationship with BP which is also our largest client in terms of volume; this, combined with its commitment to digitalisation and the North Sea made it the obvious choice to approach with R2S VPS.

“This project has also caught the imagination of our sister companies across James Fisher and Sons plc, and with collective operations across industries as diverse as nuclear and infrastructure we already see considerable transfer application.”

Stephen Ashley, Digital Transformation Solution Centre Manager said:

“We are delighted to be supporting Return To Scene with this automation project, which aims to deliver a step change in offshore safety and delivery efficiencies. Offshore automation is the future of our industry and ties in perfectly with our ‘Smart Facilities’ theme, which allows us to provide greater operational insight and knowledge to support future facilities and asset management. Smart facilities have the opportunity to revolutionise our industry.”