A construction worker climbs over the fence line on the site of a large project of the public infrastructure reconstruction of a raised road and bridges on the upper Manhattan, New York, New York, USA, April 22, 2021.
Mike Fresh Reuters
Infrastructure consisting of the US is in some cases a swing. According to over a third (36%) of all American bridges – almost 222,000 span – it requires serious repair or replacement Data of the Transport Department. Meanwhile, more than 1,500 people were injured or died At 153 oil refineries throughout the country within six years ending in 2023, partly due to unknowingly acting damaged structures. In addition to the risk of human safety, damage to the oil refinery causes an increase in a strong factor of pollution. And because climate shocks change the world and its structures at an increasingly faster pace, it can be difficult even for the most experienced employees. This is where robots come.
“What is the process of assessing physical structures such as bridges, dams or ships? It is a very archaic method, put a man there (…) and save all potential areas of damage that does not work, which does not work well when you have kilometers of potential areas of damage-said Jake Loosarian, CEO and co-founder Gecko Robotics.
Gecko is implementing robots This climbing, crawls, swim and fly that work with sensors and artificial intelligence software to create layers of data that tell you all about the health of the structure. He can do all this without putting people in a fire line, despite the fact that they are experts who pilot robots, and then understand and act on Tech's arrangements.
Gecko, who fired at the Losarian's College dormitory in 2013 after visiting the Western Pennsylvania power plant and learned about her failures and explosions, is not the only solution to the problem of infrastructure with robotics. Perceptto offers a comprehensive drone solution in a box, which is equipped with various types of cameras and pairs with its reserved control and monitoring software.
“If you are talking about the oil and gas industry, you can find gas leaks, you can find oil leaks and you can find broken components,” said Udi Zohar, perceptto product director. Zohar added that his drone equipment can get to electrical infrastructure in adverse weather conditions that people cannot (for example, such as hurricanes or snowstorms).
Drone software also receives notifications and sends drones to determine the accuracy of the alert. “You save people time. You add security to your company, “said Zohar. While the percepto began the main case of using security in sensitive facilities, it expanded to a number of use cases, including weak places where methane emits or lead tools after climate disasters.
“I need more robots and I can't build them all”
In Gecko, data is just as important as robots.
“Initially, we built wall-supporting robots, which in principle could perform sonograms, just like a doctor in the case of scans of pregnancy, but for a physical structure,” said Rosarian. By attaching ultrasonic sensors and cameras, robots can not only access difficult to access and often dangerous places, but also be able to capture information and evaluate time changes, as well as the main reasons for this change. “It begins to influence the way you do certain things or how you anticipate how long something has to last or how safe something is,” he said.
Companies such as Gecko and Percepto are focused on use cases that increase security and performance and reduce expenses in industries such as defense, energy and production. Service and maintenance (including aging of assets) 39% of the American military budgetand national sum deferred maintenance cost Studies show that they can be at least $ 1 trillion. By employing robots for a proactive solution for structural assessment and repair priorities according to the needs, companies and agencies can create a healthier, safer world, often for less money.
Loosararan said that the Infrastructure Inspection Robotics Industry is growing so fast that he can't take it alone. “My problem is that I need more robots and I can't build them,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gecko is actively working on the AI model, which predicts when resources fail. For its part, the perception evolves to contain more types of cameras and sensors on the drone product in the box. These two companies reflect more trajectory – the inspection robot industry is growing at least at a pace 30% per year.
In the United States, drivers cross bridges with poor condition about 168 million times a day. Hundreds of employees Every year, checking places fall to death. And in oil refineries such factors Corrosion increases dangerous emissions This harms nearby employees and the entire planet, while increasing operating costs.
While very needed experts are still looking for structural anomalies, robots-people acting-they run to fill a clear gap for a safer, healthier world.
