Industrial inspection is a broad term that encompasses numerous activities and functions aimed at improving safety, conditions, efficiency, and performance. Industrial inspections include a variety of monitoring, evaluation, and testing operations to measure, test, and inspect infrastructure, facilities, machinery, and workplace environments to specific standards. Visual inspections involve on-site evaluations by trained individuals to evaluate particular safety, workflow, and operational elements according to a predetermined checklist and standards. Industrial and plant inspections help companies improve safety and operational efficiency by identifying and fixing anomalies. Technological progress in recent decades revolutionized many industries and services by integrating technology into processes and functions. Industrial operations and functions also witnessed transformation due to automation and robots in manufacturing processes.
Automation, robots, and artificial intelligence (AI) significantly improved plant efficiency by alleviating repetitive or redundant tasks while utilizing AI to forecast, plan, and manage operations efficiently. Robots and automation play a significant role in many industries and businesses by complementing the workforce while performing various tasks without requiring external support or assistance. Autonomous robots and AI also received traction in the industrial inspection segment due to numerous safety and operational benefits. Robotic solution provider ANYbotics is revolutionizing industrial inspection through its proprietary autonomous industrial inspection robot ANYmal. ANYbotics is a Swiss robotics company offering independent industrial assessment through its legged robot called ANYmal. The legged robots traverse industrial settings and environments to autonomously evaluate and analyze the state and condition of plants, equipment, machinery, equipment, and infrastructure.
Robots are essential for numerous industrial applications, including inspection, monitoring, and evaluation. ANYmal autonomously moves around plant sites to inspect and record its surroundings for monitoring and maintenance purposes. The robot uses machine learning and AI capabilities to identify and memorize the terrain while maneuvering diverse spaces efficiently. ANYmal’s legs and AI capabilities allow the robot to move around several settings, including climbing or descending stairs, stepping over or avoiding obstacles, and crawling into constricted spaces. ANYmal can complement human inspectors by autonomously and accurately collecting and recording inspection data for evaluation purposes.
ANYmal is an entirely autonomous omnidirectional industrial inspection robot with the capability to inspect and independently monitor several indoor and outdoor terrains through dust, snow, wind, water, splash, and rain. The robot can climb stairs at an angle of 45 degrees, scale 25-centimeter-high steps, travel over slopes with a 30-degree slant, suspend 80 centimeters, and avoid terrain gaps of 30 centimeters. ANYmal performs seamless day and night operations while navigating and recording complex terrains for future inspection missions. Operators only need to show and teach the critical task and path to ANYmal. The robot can autonomously complete inspection missions in complex, multi-floor facilities without human supervision.
ANYmal has over 90 minutes of run time for seamless and autonomous operations and uses docking stations for recharging, extending the operation time, extending its range, and increasing inspection mission frequency. The robot takes about 100 minutes for a 70 percent charge and three hours for a complete recharge. Some of ANYmal’s primary characteristics include a built-in Wi-Fi network connection capability, 4G/LTE telecommunication add-on module, thermal camera, zoom camera, ultrasonic microphone, spotlight, edge computer, and a pan-tilt unit. These features enable ANYmal to navigate and traverse industrial environments while monitoring, inspecting, and recording various elements in a plant.
ANYmal can perform numerous tasks within the scope of the industrial inspection to ensure people’s safety and infrastructure or plant durability. The most prominent functions or jobs completed by ANYmal in an industrial environment include reading instruments, detecting events, 3D environment scanning, and checking equipment health. Preventive measures can significantly reduce costs while mitigating risks stemming from unforeseen circumstances. ANYmal can help prevent numerous problems by determining the presence or concentration of gases in the environment, identifying overheating settings, and detecting alarms for clearing emergency passages.
Inspecting plants involves several activities, including evaluating equipment of infrastructure health, environmental scanning, and assessing various indicators. ANYmal can perform all tasks independently, including reading instruments to record values off analog counters or gauges, checking valve states, and capturing images. ANYmal also performs environmental scanning for identifying and recording structural changes in plants and machinery. The robot can also evaluate and determine equipment health by inspecting, recording, and reporting anomalies in machinery. ANYmal can measure temperatures, detect water or oil leakages, and identify unusual vibrations by analyzing frequency. Advances in robotic technology are shaping a new era in industrial inspection. An era where intelligent, mobile and autonomous legged robots, such as ANYmal, are significantly improving plant efficiency by alleviating repetitive or redundant tasks.
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