The Infona portal uses cookies, i.e. strings of text saved by a browser on the user's device. The portal can access those files and use them to remember the user's data, such as their chosen settings (screen view, interface language, etc.), or their login data. By using the Infona portal the user accepts automatic saving and using this information for portal operation purposes. More information on the subject can be found in the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. By closing this window the user confirms that they have read the information on cookie usage, and they accept the privacy policy and the way cookies are used by the portal. You can change the cookie settings in your browser.
This paper collects and analyzes a list of application scenarios for inspections of power generation and petrochemical processing facilities using unmanned aerial vehicles. Based on this list of applications, general requirements for future aerial inspection robots are derived to serve as potential benchmarks for further research and development in this field. In this context the paper also discusses...
This paper presents the main vision and research activities of the ongoing European project AIRobots (Innovative Aerial Service Robot for Remote Inspection by Contact, www.airobots.eu). The goal of AIRobots is to develop a new generation of aerial service robots capable of supporting human beings in all those activities that require the ability to interact actively and safely with environments not...
This video paper outlines some of the results achieved during the first two years of the ongoing European project AIRobots (Innovative Aerial Service Robots for Remote Inspection by Contact, www.airobots.eu). Goal of AIRobots is to develop a new generation of aerial service robots capable of supporting human beings in all those activities that require the ability to interact actively and safely with...
The MagneBike robot is a magnetic wheeled robot designed for the inspection of ferromagnetic structures in power plants, especially steam chests. This video first presents the robot's locomotion concept, i.e. two aligned magnetic wheels integrating lateral lever arms, that allow the robot to pass over complex combinations of obstacles. Laboratory and field experiments show the high mobility of the...
This paper reports on a 3 years applied research project dealing with several inspection scenarios of power plants and resulting in many robot prototypes and 3 main achievements. The project is a common effort between industry and university, including ALSTOM together with researchers from the 2 Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology. The goal is to generate knowledge and transfer technology to the...
In this paper, we present the mechanical design of a compact magnetic wheeled robot - with the goal to do inspection and vibration measurements in the housings of large generators and similar environments in power plants. After a detailed analysis of the specifications in this application, we present a new vehicle structure that allows for passing sharp concave corners - even with low friction coefficient...
This paper presents a detailed characterization of the Hokuyo URG-04LX 2D laser range finder. While the sensor specifications only provide a rough estimation of the sensor accuracy, the present work analyzes issues such as time drift effects and dependencies on distance, target properties (color, brightness and material) as well as incidence angle. Since the sensor is intended to be used for measurements...
The non-destructive inspection of generator stators is a repetitive and cost-intensive task. For some types with very small entrance gaps (around 9 mm height), it was even necessary to always remove the rotor. This paper describes the design and prototype implementation of a new robotic crawler which is only 8 mm high and thus can inspect all types of generators with the rotor installed. Different...
This paper describes the hardware and behavior implementation of a miniature robot, in size of a match box, that is able to interact with cockroaches. The robot is equipped with two micro-processors dedicated to hardware processing and behavior generation. It is also equipped with 12 infra-red proximity sensors, 2 light sensors, a linear camera and a battery that allows 3 hours autonomy. The robot...
Set the date range to filter the displayed results. You can set a starting date, ending date or both. You can enter the dates manually or choose them from the calendar.