– The engineers were far-sighted and installed a lot of sensors. We are happy about that today.
A choice made five years ago started a data adventure for the battery technology company Corvus Energy.
Corvus Energy is a world-leading company within battery systems for vessels and land stations. When they launched a new battery system, Orca Energy, five years ago, it contained technology that they did not yet know how to use.
As it turned out, this was the start of a data adventure.
– Our engineers in battery technology were far-sighted and installed a number of sensors in every single battery module. In fact, one sensor on each battery cell - 24 sensors for each module. And they created a tailor-made solution to collect and store the data, says Henning Dahl. He is the company's Chief Business Development Officer.
– Looking back, we are really happy about the choices that were made then, he says.
Sign up for a visit to Corvus Energy 27 April.
Data as a competitive advantage
Corvus Energy was founded in Canada in 2009. The head office was moved to Bergen in 2018 because the Norwegian market was - and still is - the world's most mature and demanding. In both Norway and Canada, the company produces large battery systems with automated robot technology.
Their use of technology means that they can be competitive with advanced products in high-cost countries, Dahl explains.
- Our robots are very charming and impressive. But robot technology is off the shelf and easily copyable. Data is Corvus' biggest competitive advantage, he says.
- Our job is simply to use the large amounts of data, for the benefit of our customers and ourselves. Here, machine learning is central, he says.
Machine learning in the cloud
Corvus currently collects, interprets, stores and processes data from a large number of vessels around the world. The data is collected on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.
- This is core technology, and as our ambitions increase, we will use new functions and more capacity in Azure, says Dahl.
They have built an advanced and powerful machine learning architecture on the cloud platform - which simply means that the data is processed and analyzed using artificial intelligence. For example, to identify and warn of potential problems in the battery systems of the vessels in the field.
Working this way not only provides better and safer products and services - but also greater cost savings.
- We can work much more efficiently. And the cost of scaling in the cloud is far less than similar investments in employees would be, says Dahl.
Better customer experience
When Corvus works with data, their priorities are twofold, Dahl says. The data analysis will both benefit the customer and be used to improve internal systems and processes.
– We want to give the large amounts of data back to our customers as a service - an ongoing reporting of the condition of the battery system they have invested in. Here, customers also receive advice and recommendations on optimizing the use of their battery system.
– The logged-in customer portal is in active use among our customers and partners. New services are launched on an ongoing basis, and a good user experience is key, he says.
The second priority is internal use.
– We monitor a large number of vessels and let the computers notify us of possible problems in the field. These alerts are followed up by the service unit, which can then give the system feedback on what is a real problem and what was a false alarm.
– In addition, the system is well suited to understand the root cause of a specific problem or error. This way, this important information can be returned to the product developers and system engineers, and contribute to product improvements and high operational reliability.
The entire Corvus organization has now become preoccupied with data from the vessels. Dahl says that it provides value in various ways for all departments.
– We are on our way to becoming a computer-driven organization. Just as we want it, he concludes.
Facts: You should keep this in mind in your computer project
The work of ensuring good data quality never ends.
– An important lesson is that the data quality is not always as good as you think. It has taken a lot of time to arrange for good data quality. This work never ends, says Henning Dahl.
Data quality is about whether the data is complete, correct and representative - in short, whether they give a correct picture of what they are supposed to represent in reality.
– And with increasing ambitions, you want to connect several different data sources, thus the complexity increases. Then this will not be any easier. But the potential utility value also increases, Dahl says.
Work on streamlining internal processes
– In our experience, it is easiest to streamline internal processes and extract gains in the form of cost efficiency, says Dahl.
Facing new challenges, they always look to see if they can hire a computer - or rather, to increase processing power - rather than hiring a new employee.
– It is always a trade-off, we do both. And we also work with consultants. But we always try to be more efficient rather than hiring, says Dahl.
Note: This article is based on an interview with Corvus Energy by Digital Norway. Read the full interview in Norwegian.
Corvus Energy was founded in Canada in 2009. The head office was moved to Bergen in 2018 because the Norwegian market was - and still is - the world's most mature and demanding.
In both Norway and Canada, the company produces large battery systems with automated robot technology.
Related Events
GCE Ocean Technology Events
Other events