Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
A construction worker goes up on a fencing line on the site of a large public infrastructure reconstruction project of a highway and high bridges in Alto Manhattan in New York City, New York, USA. UU., 22 of April 2021.
Mike fresh | Reuters
The infrastructure that constitutes the USA. It is, in some cases, to stir. More than a third (36%) of all American bridges, almost 222,000 sections, require large repair or replacement work, according to Transport Department data. Meanwhile, more than 1,500 people were injured or died With 153 oil refineries throughout the country in the six years that end in 2023, in part because the sites involuntarly operate damaged structures. In addition to the risk for human security, damage to an oil refinery causes an increase in the contamination factor already strong. And with climatic shocks that change the world and its structures at an increasingly fast pace, it can be difficult even for the most experienced workers keep up. That’s where robots enter.
“What is the process of trying to evaluate physical structures such as bridges, dams or ships? That is well when you have miles and miles of potential damage areas,” said Jake Loosararan, CEO and co -founder of Gecko Robotics.
GECKO implements robots That climbing, tracking, swimming and fly, which work with sensors and artificial intelligence software to create data layers that indicate everything that needs to be known about the health of a structure. You can do all this without putting humans on the line of fire, although they are the experts who pilot robots, then make sense and act on the findings of technology.
Gecko, which was launched from the University Bedroom of Loosaian in 2013 after visiting a Western Penylvania energy plant and learned about its failures and explosions, is not the only one that addresses the problem of infrastructure with robotics. Perceptual offers a solution of dron-in-a-box from end to end that is equipped with different types of cameras and pairs with its patented inspection and monitoring software.
“If you are talking about the oil and gas industry, you can find gas leaks, you can find crude oil leaks and can find broken components,” said Udi Zohar, director of percept products. Zohar added that his drone hardware can reach electrical infrastructure in adverse climatic conditions that humans cannot (such as hurricanes or snow storms, for example).
Drones software also receives alerts and dispatches drones to determine the accuracy of the alert. “You are saving people time. You are adding security to your company,” Zahar said. While perceptual began with the main use case of providing security in confidential facilities, it has expanded to offer a variety of use cases, including the identification of weak points where methane emits or the creation of public services in operation after Climate disasters.
‘I need more robots and I can’t build them all’
In Gecko, the data is as important as robots.
“Initially, we build climbing robots on the wall that could basically make sonograms as well as a doctor for pregnancy scans, but for a physical structure,” Loosararan said. When placing ultrasonic sensors and cameras, robots can not only access the difficult points to reach often dangerous, but also to be able to capture information and evaluate the changes over time, as well as the root causes of that change. “That begins to affect the way he directs certain things, or how he predicts how long something has to last, or how safe it is something,” he said.
Companies such as Gecko and Percepto are pointing to use cases that increase security and efficiency, and reduce expenses, in industries such as defense, energy and manufacturing. Operation and maintenance (including aging assets) accounts for 39% of the US military budgetand the national total Deferred maintenance cost It can be at least $ 1 billion, shows the investigation. When using robots to proactively address the structural evaluation and prioritize repairs for needs, companies and agencies can create a healthier and safer world built, often for less money.
Loosararan said that the robotics industry that inspects the infrastructure is growing so fast that it cannot assume it alone. “My problem is that I need more robots, and I can’t build them,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gecko is actively working on an AI model that predicts when the assets will fail. Perceptual, meanwhile, is evolving to include more types of cameras and sensors in the drone-in-a-box product. These two companies reflect a greater career: the inspection robot industry is growing at a rate of at least 30% per year.
In the United States, motorists cross the bridges classified in poor condition approximately 168 million times a day. Hundreds of workers Inspection sites fall to their deaths every year. And in oil refineries, factors such as Increase in corrosion hazardous emissions That damage to nearby workers and the planet in general, while increasing operating costs at the same time.
While very necessary experts continue to look for structural anomalies, robots, and the people who operate them are getting into a clear place for a safer and healthier world.
