Dive Summary:
- A robot crawler (see images here and here) demonstrated this summer at the the New York Power Authority’s (NYPA) Niagara Hydroelectric Power Plant may hold the key to improving concrete inspections, both enhancing the operation of generating facilities and vastly boosting power plants' life expectancy.
- The crawler, which is already on the market, was used to inspect concrete on the face of the Niagara plant. According to the Niagara Gazette, the crawler "is controlled remotely, adheres to vertical surfaces using vacuum suction and can carry up to 44 pounds. It applies on-board systems, including simultaneous localization and mapping technology and advanced instrumentation developed for concrete applications, to conduct automated, high-precision inspections and to capture computer-encoded data and images for maintenance decision-making."
- “We are in the initial phase of testing, but this device shows great potential for advancing the industry’s concrete inspection process. By the end of the year we’d like the data that can be collected by this robot to provide a real-time, accurate assessment of the conditions and integrity of concrete.” said Maria Guimaraes, a project manager at the Electric Power Research Institute.
From the article:
“When this technology has been perfected, it will eliminate the need for potentially dangerous and difficult rappelling and scaffolding in the performance of routine structural evaluations,” said George F. Wong, a senior civil engineer with the NYPA.
