The first autonomous robot excavator It is a fact. In fact, he can do various useful tasks on his own in dangerous environments.
The autonomous robot The excavation was created by researchers from the US and China and is capable of operating for 24 consecutive hours without the slightest human intervention. The robotic excavator can do various tasks on its own, dangerous to humans, such as e.g. after a natural disaster or nuclear accident, removing piles of debris or radioactive waste.
The researchers, who published the paper in the journal Science Robotics, estimated that the Autonomous Excavator System (AES) could be quickly and widely adopted by construction equipment companies as well as other technical companies. or carriers.
Excavation is considered one of the most dangerous processes in the construction industry, often leading to accidents at work and deaths due to various causes (landslides, rock landslides, excessive dust, etc.).
Robot – excavator for dangerous missions
Robots could free humans from the most dangerous part of the job by automating them.
The challenge is to be able to operate for many hours autonomously and also to adapt to the requirements of a different work environment, different materials, different weather conditions, etc.
Until now, there were no robotic systems that satisfactorily meet all these conditions.
The new, more advanced robot has proven in tests of all kinds (digging ditches, loading trucks, clearing debris and waste, accumulating rocks or other materials at one point, etc.) that it combines many capabilities.
Robot – excavator: His “x-ray”
It perceives its environment through the use of LiDAR technology in its sensors, has cameras and multiple algorithms that accurately detect objects around it.
The system “learns” to improve itself, as long as it works in a specific area. Among other things, it has a neural network that “cleans” the images when there is a lot of dust in the environment.
In fact, as his timing showed, the robot-excavator handles a similar amount of material per hour with an experienced human operator.
In the future, its creators aim to improve the robot’s ability to work in difficult weather conditions, such as snow or ice.
source: ΑΠΕ – ΜΠΕ
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