Woodside Energy adds actual robots into code pipeline stages
Woodside Energy has revealed for the first time the mechanics of introducing code changes to robots at its remote sites, with code tested in a lab and carpark before being pushed into production.
Robotics engineer Robert Reid told the AWS Summit that the company is using a continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipeline to test and deploy code changes that start in its Perth-based lab environment and finish onsite at its its Pluto liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Karratha in Western Australia.
The company has been trialling robots, include a four-wheeler with remotely-controlled arms and sensors to patrol and the Pluto plant since 2018.
“If we’re doing code development, then we’ll be doing that on a development robot out here in the lab,” he said on Wednesday.
“Once we’re happy with some of the code changes we’re making, we’ll be pushing them up to GitHub, where the CI/CD processes will kick off and build those changes into fresh Debian changes.
