The wall climbing robotic for metal buildings – developed by Mitsui O.S.Ok. Lines, Sumitomo Heavy Industries, and MOL Ship Management to help ship inspection and upkeep – has accomplished an indication check and earned the Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) Innovation Endorsement.
The Innovation Endorsement is ClassNK’s third-party certification program. It certifies and helps initiatives that contribute to the sustainable evolution of maritime and offshore companies.
The robotic developed by Japanese companions is characterised by its excessive traversability not solely on vertical partitions but additionally on curved surfaces and unevenness. It can transfer to excessive locations that have been beforehand tough to entry by people or robots, and might take clear images and inspections of the related components.
Moreover, it’s able to measuring the thickness of metal plates by distant operation by the operator, and its measurement accuracy is as excessive as 0.01mm.
This not solely avoids the hazards of working at heights, but additionally eliminates the necessity for scaffolding, lowering labor prices and scaffolding prices. Furthermore, it could actually additionally work in confined areas, eliminating the danger of oxygen deficiency for the crew.
An illustration check of the robotic was carried out in a vessel’s maintain (the area the place cargo is loaded and saved) and noticed by ClassNK. The robotic efficiently accomplished varied operations, reminiscent of navigating corners, buying wall inspection photographs, and measuring plate thickness, which is tough to realize with typical robots
The modern robotic efficiency and expertise, in addition to its modern capabilities for ship inspection, have been acknowledged, and it has obtained the Innovation Endorsement certification from ClassNK within the ‘Product & Solution’ class, which targets merchandise and techniques that apply superior initiatives.
Following the success of this demonstration check, MOL and MOL Ship Management goal to additional develop their ship operation and administration expertise, in addition to Sumitomo Heavy Industries’ robotic growth and manufacturing expertise.
They additionally goal to reinforce the efficiency and performance of robots and pursue digital transformation utilizing detailed knowledge obtained from robots.
