The Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation (IFF) is intensively exploring possibilities for robots to engage in various service tasks, especiallyfirllyautomatic systems for facade cleaning. We have already designed and built a variety of different facade cleaning robots and concepts. These robots and concepts are based on various motion systems (i.e. walking mechanisms, wheeled vehicles, balloon-based systems, etc.) that are specially-suited for motion along dflerent building types. This paper gives an overview about different facade cleaning robots developed by the Fraunhofer IFF: The facade cleaning robot, SIRllJSc, for use on skyscrapers, the robot to clean the 25,000 mz vaulted glass hall of the Leipzig Trade Fair in Germany, as well as the completed concept for a balloon-based robot for cleaning the inner side of atriums and glass roofi are discussed here. The unique aspects of the main components of these robots will be addressed in particular
Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation (IFF). SIRIUS is a climbing robot meant for any vertical surface, regardless of the angle. The robot can be outfitted with tools to perform a variety of service‐sector tasks such as façade cleaning, building and ship coating, ship welding, inspection work on tanks, and so on. It is a modular system, and the robot can be adapted to almost any surface, independent of the surface material or obstacles. The robot stays attached to the surface via suction cup feet or magnetic grippers, and moves vertically on four linear guides that are coupled in two pairs. The new kinematics of the robot allow it to walk continuously in all directions. The robot overcomes obstacles by sensing their position and generating the necessary step length in order to maximize the number of suction cups attached to the surface while walking over the obstacle.
Rotor blades of wind energy converters are highly stressed components subject to constant load cycles. Regular inspections of rotor blades are indispensible for reliable operation and cost effective production without longer downtimes. Insurers and lenders demand routine inspection of rotor blades every two years. The wide range of damage that occurs on rotor blades greatly depends on the construction of the blades. Inspection must primarily detect damage caused by delamination, bonding defects, lightning strikes, air inclusions and cracks. Automated inspection of rotor blades with service robots is one of the Robotic Systems Business Unit's interesting fields of research. This paper presents the results of the joint project RIWEA. The Fraunhofer IFF developed a concept for a robot system that automatically inspects rotor blades
The Fraunhofer Institute of Factory Operation and Automation (IFF) is intensively exploring various service tasks such as cleaning facades, coating buildings and ships, and inspecting structures. To this end, the Fraunhofer IFF developed a modular robot system for movement on vertical or steeply-inclined surfaces. The control of the system is based on a modular programmed on-board PLC. The program structure and it flexible routines allow the robot to automatically overcome typical facade obstacles without preprogrammed data by sensing their position and then generating the necessary steps in order to avoid them. The robot employs a "Sliding Module" kinematics system, which has, in certain applications, many advantages over the original "Sliding Frame" kinematics system. The robot is designed to carry a tool to perform various tasks on a surface. The current prototype, SIRIUS C, carries a cleaning tool and can automatically clean the facades of skyscrapers
Concentrated solar power (CSP) plants are expansive facilities that require substantial inspection and maintenance. A fully automated inspection robot increases the efficiency of maintenance work, reduces operating and maintenance costs, and improves safety and work conditions for service technicians. This paper describes a climbing robot that is capable of performing inspection and maintenance on vertical surfaces of solar power plants, e.g., the tubes of the receiver in a central tower CSP plant. Specifically, the service robot's climbing mechanism is explained and the results of the nondestructive inspection methods are reviewed. The robot moves on the panels of the receiver in the tower and aligns the sensors correctly for inspection. The vertical movement of the climbing kinematics is synchronized with the movement of the tower's crane. Various devices that detect surface defects and thickness losses inside the tube were integrated into the robot. Since the tubes are exposed to very high radiation, they need to be inspected regularly.
Industrial robots are versatile machines that can be used to implement numerous tasks. They have been successful in applications where–after integration and commissioning–a more or less static and repetitive behaviour in conjunction with closed work cells is sufficient. In aerospace manufacturing, robots still struggle to compete against either specialized machines or manual labour. This can be attributed to complex or custom parts and/or small batch sizes. Here, applicability of robots can be improved by enabling collaborative use-cases. When fixed protective fences are not desired due to handling problems of the large parts involved, sensor-based approaches like speed and separation monitoring (SSM) are required. This contribution is about how to construct dynamic volumes of space around a robot as well as around a person in the way that their combination satisfies required separation distance between robot and person. The goal was to minimize said distance by calculating volumes both adaptively and as precisely as possible given the available information. We used a voxel-based method to compute the robot safety space that includes worst-case breaking behaviour. We focused on providing a worst-case representation considering all possible breaking variations. Our approach to generate the person safety space is based on an outlook for 2D camera, AI-based workspace surveillance.
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