Odfjell Drilling reported Friday that it has become the major shareholder in Robotic Drilling Systems AS. Odfjell's interest in RDS is its system that Odfjell believes has the potential to become "the next-generation drill-floor technology", leading to improvement in safety and efficiency in drilling operations. RDS has developed its robotic drill-floor system ready for a full-scale test in 2015, with a further offshore test in 2017. The new system can be implemented both on existing and new drilling rigs. 

The system consists of five complementary components that constitute one autonomous robotic drill-floor system. The deal has seen Odfjell invest an initial tranche of NOK 50 million in RDS, with the expectation that it will invest a further NOK 35 million in a future share issue.