Space, industry share autonomy challenges

Space. It’s the final frontier. With apologies to Gene Roddenberry and his Star Trek opening monologue, outer space is not only the final frontier for exploration, but also represents the pinnacle of industrial autonomous operations for those of us bound by gravity and daydreaming of what’s out there.

“This is an interesting time to be in the process industry. We aren’t in it because we love valves, we grew up liking robots and Star Trek,” said Eugene Spiropoulos, senior technology strategist, Yokogawa, as he opened a “Space Day” panel on space IT/OT convergence this week at YNOW2024 in Houston. “Robots and space technology are in our industry now,” he added.

Spiropoulos (center in photo) and fellow panelists Andrea Course (right), digital Innovation program manager, Shell; Wogbe Ofori (left), founder and chief strategist, WRX Companies; and Andy Corriveau (not pictured) global lead, cyber and quantum security, Axiom Space, weighed the opportunities for utilizing autonomous operations developed for the process industry in space as well as the opportunities for space technology to help better remote operations here on Earth.

“Space is the pinnacle of remote operations. Everything we talk about in terms of making things secure, keeping workers safe, autonomous operations is applicable to space. So, the question becomes how much of what we do here on Earth is applicable to space,” Spiropoulos said.

Course, who grew up in Columbia always wanting to be an astronaut, agreed that the process industries have many synergies with space technology. She pointed to her own industry where offshore oil and gas drilling requires most of its work to be done in the remote, dark and harsh environment deep in and under the ocean, much like it is in outer space. “When we’re talking about remote environments, offshore is like operating in space,” she said.

Ofori said he believes there are opportunities to expand terrestrial technologies in space. “We’re just scratching the surface,” he said. He added that living and working in Houston, home to NASA as well as much of the energy industry, means there is a natural collaborative environment. “This is a town of engineers and engineers are problem solvers,” he said. “There is the opportunity to expand our current practices into space.”

What goes up, also comes down

Before they launched themselves too far into what we can do in space, the panelists were quick to point out that it’s a bidirectional path between the planet and space. “What can we learn in space that we can use here on Earth?” Course asked, rhetorically.

Spiropoulos agreed, citing the digital transformation that industry has been undergoing for the past couple of decades. For new companies that aren’t necessarily transitioning, but building digitally and through autonomous operations, there are concepts that can be taken from space tech to be used here on solid ground.

Industrial autonomy adoption is challenged when it comes to technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), so could space tech, which has a history of finding it’s way into our daily lives in some cases—think aerospace and medical equipment—help ease any doubts?

“One of the challenges [with autonomous technology] in a mature industry is that there is reticence,” Ofari said. “How come we aren’t seeing the value in the new approach? It’s cultural, not technical. One advantage with space tech is that everything is so new.”

Course agreed, adding that humans like to have control, citing the example of letting go of the wheel of a Tesla automobile for the first time. “It’s terrifying to adapt to new technology,” she said.

Focus, value and creativity

The panelist agreed that to get to a point where space tech and earth tech mirror each other there will need to be more investment in intelligent devices and automation in the process industry. Data, which Course called the “new oil” for today is vital to any advancement on either frontier.

The challenge is to identify the value in technologies that we’ve only seen in science fiction as they pertain to real life. The challenge in adapting space tech for use on earth is that the products are built specifically for the demands of space. “So, you have to get creative,” Ofari pointed out.

But the panelists agreed the opportunities exist. Course pointed out that her industry actively uses laser technology developed for the space industry to detect fugitive emissions. “It’s a shiny example of one bi-directional technology that is used both here and out there,” she said.

She added there is a huge challenge ahead for autonomous operations in the industrial sector. “One is the need for more energy to feed AI-based systems, and producing that energy requires creative technology. Space tech may provide answers.”

“We need to focus on how to solve such problems,” she implored the audience.

And it just may take an out-of-this world solution.