The Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult has developed a virtual simulation platform designed to support the deployment of robotics and autonomous systems in offshore wind environments. Known as VDARE (Virtual Demonstration and Assessment for Robotic Environments), the platform is designed to incorporate live environmental data into simulations. It enables testing and validation of robotic technologies in offshore wind settings, including floating and fixed-bottom wind turbines as well as harbour and dockside operations.
The simulation environment replicates real-world offshore conditions, including wind, wave and sea states, environmental variables such as wind speed and wave height, and multi-robot communications. The platform supports simulations across multiple UK locations and can be adapted to international sites using specific operational and environmental datasets.
VDARE is part of a broader initiative delivered with funding from Innovate UK’s Smart Shipping Acceleration Fund and the OLTER (Offshore Low Touch Energy Robotics and Autonomous Systems) project, which is under the Net Zero Technology Transition Programme managed by the Net Zero Technology Centre.
The platform is housed within the Digital, Autonomous and Robotics Centre of Excellence (DARE) at ORE Catapult’s National Renewable Energy Centre in Blyth, Northumberland. It complements ORE Catapult’s physical testing infrastructure, including the Levenmouth Demonstration Turbine in Fife, Scotland.
ORE Catapult partnered with Acua Ocean, a developer of hydrogen-powered unmanned surface vessels, to demonstrate the platform’s capabilities. In a simulation, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was launched from an Acua Ocean vessel and autonomously followed the USV while collecting operational data.
VDARE is intended to support developers of offshore wind robotics from initial concept through to deployment. Equipment and sensor contributions to the project were provided by companies including Nortech Engineering and Frontier Robotics.
