Energy and chemical giant Aramco has deployed edge-based computer vision from FogHorn to improve safety and to monitor equipment to prevent failures, FogHorn announced Tuesday.
Aramco is using the FogHorn Lightning Edge AI platform which will also provide support for future automation, digitization and standardization.
The system gathers data from high-bandwidth camera sensors and processes and analyzes it at or near the source of the streaming sensor, reducing latency over an internet connection to the cloud or data center.
Edge computing makes the video cameras able to be, essentially, conscious and intelligent to play a role in automation, FogHorn said.
Aramco expects to use the FogHorn system to further minimize flares from exhaust stacks used in chemical production, said Nabil Al Nuaim, chief digital officer at Aramco, in a prepared statement. FogHorn is being deployed in multiple locations, but no other details were provided.
Cameras are now being used for remote drilling rig inspection to monitor blowout preventer activity. Workers can monitor activity on a dashboard and shut down a drilling operation if a well blowout is imminent.
Also, Aramco has implemented automated surveillance, IR 4.0 Safety Eye, which relies on digital image processing in the FogHorn platform to provide real-time safety monitoring. Video from standard surveillance cameras is streamed through AI software to detect fixed and moving personnel and assets. When a hazard or an infraction is detected, an automatic alert is sounded.
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