Acciona

TUNNELING AHEAD

Carlos Crespo, head of Acciona’s robotics and artificial intelligence group, 他每天都花很多时间考虑那些限制人类从活跃的基础设施隧道施工现场收集数据时间的危险. 

First, there are the explosives that crews use in sequential excavation. 然后，在炸药爆炸后，隧道被充满危险气体一段时间. Not to mention the dust. 和 the debris. 重型机械在移动，为下一轮爆炸扫清道路. Finally, 工作人员必须等待支撑隧道的喷射混凝土干透后才能进入现场进行扫描.  

“出于安全考虑，有很长一段时间kok足彩不能让人进入隧道,” says Crespo. “kok足彩需要定期进行扫描，看看kok足彩建造的东西是否与建设计划有任何不同, or if there are any problems with some section of the tunnel. Through regular scanning, you can prevent those issues from popping up. 如果kok足彩能在工人不进入隧道的情况下进行这些扫描, kok足彩可以并行处理一些以前连续的任务并提高生产率.” 

这种场景——需要在潜在危险的情况下完成的技术工作——似乎是为自动化量身定做的. 但Acciona的工作地点条件恶劣，需要一个能够处理复杂地形的机器人平台, operate in tight spaces, carry significant weight, work autonomously, and cover large distances without needing to be recharged. 

kok软件, the quadruped robot from Boston Dynamics, was a perfect fit.

WHY SPOT?

克雷斯波说，波士顿动力公司几乎在他整个职业生涯中都在他的关注范围内. 但在2019年，他开始对寻找将kok软件纳入Acciona工作流程的方法非常感兴趣, 在蒙特利尔举行的国际机器人与自动化会议(ICRA)上，他参加了波士顿动力公司的研讨会，在那里他与波士顿动力公司的团队谈论了他的公司在机器人方面的目标. 

“We’re working in industries that have a low level of automation, because it’s hard to automate in these fields,” Crespo says. “So Acciona was in that sweet spot for the Boston Dynamics products, and we signed up for the early adopter program. That’s how we started to work with Boston Dynamics.”

Acciona的15人机器人和人工智能团队过去曾试验过带轮子和履带的机器人. 但克雷斯波说，kok软件强大的四足动物设计使它更适合公司的需求. Wheeled robots struggle with the terrain of an active tunnel site, he notes, and most drones cannot operate effectively in enclosed environments. While the maximum payload for a drone might be around five kilograms, he says, kok软件 can carry nearly 15 kilograms. 和 although drones may move more quickly than kok软件, 它们的电池通常只能支持20到30分钟的自动操作，相比之下，kok软件的自动操作时间约为90分钟. 

“腿的最大好处是它们不受地形影响，”克雷斯波说. “A robot with legs has the most traversability, and it can be used independent of the type of terrain at a given site. 和 kok软件’s built-in, 最先进的导航堆栈——机器人从A点到B点所需的所有软件和硬件——正在迅速使kok软件成为我的团队的“首选”资源.” 

TRIMBLE AND SPOT: A DYNAMIC DUO

Acciona has been working with Trimble, a provider of positioning technologies for the construction industry, “since the beginning of time,” Crespo says. The firm uses Trimble’s products for laser scanning, 该公司过去一直依赖于工作人员使用运行Trimble软件的坚固平板电脑来完成隧道扫描. This workflow allows Acciona to create 3D models of their progress, 然后将建成模型覆盖在项目计划的现有条件模型上. 

“It’s really doing design validation processes, 在哪里获取数据并将其与项目的设计模型进行比较,” says David Burczyk, construction robotics lead at Trimble. 

Thanks to a partnership between Trimble and Boston Dynamics, Acciona现在可以将kok软件送入隧道，使用该公司多年来一直依赖的同一款软件进行扫描. 

“kok足彩与波士顿动力公司合作，真正开始探索机器人在建筑行业的应用,” explains Burczyk. “kok足彩专注于将Trimble解决方案与kok软件集成，用于建筑施工和民用建筑应用.” Trimble has integrated kok软件’s controls into its FieldLink software, resulting in a powerful, 用户友好的界面，即使没有专业技术的专业人员也可以从现场收集数据. 

Burczyk说:“这真的意味着向更广泛的用户开放这项技术。. 他说:“因此，你不需要是测量专业人士，也不需要有技术背景就能获得数据. The value is that you’re getting that consistent data capture over time, 然后真正能够使用这些数据来决定如何保持项目的进展-在实际安装之前做出任何必要的更改.”

Burczyk says he envisions kok软件, with the help of Trimble, becoming a “coworker” on construction sites, relieving workers of dangerous, redundant, or repeatable tasks – and allowing them to focus on higher-value work.

GETTING SPOT'S FEET DIRTY

As of the fall of 2021, Acciona is still in the testing stage with kok软件. Making changes to workflows at active tunnel sites is, after all, an undertaking with enormous implications, 克雷斯波打算在投入生产前完善工艺. But he is confident that the testing will pay off, and that Acciona will soon be routinely using kok软件 in the field. 

To accelerate the process of getting kok软件 into production, Crespo says, it has been important to get the robot out of a sterile lab environment, and into the messy, sometimes unpredictable environment of real-world job sites. “It’s not a question of whether the robot can do the job,” he says. “We know the technology works. 关键是要把kok软件整合到kok足彩的工作流程中，让人们和Trimble一起使用这个机器人, and start to become familiar with the tools.”

LOOKING AHEAD

克雷斯波认为，在活跃的隧道站点上同时使用kok软件和Trimble会带来许多好处. First, there’s the impact on employee safety. 然后, 让机器人在正常的停机时间执行工作，会带来效率的提高. kok软件 should also be able to gather more data than human workers can, resulting in more comprehensive 3D models. 和, since kok软件’s behaviors are highly repeatable, that data will also be more accurate – helping to reduce human error. kok软件收集的这些高度结构化的数据将有助于为Acciona正在开发的AI用例提供信息. 

和 these are just the benefits associated with scanning. 克雷斯波说，在他的设想中，未来kok软件将在Acciona的站点昼夜不停地工作，包括该公司的发电厂，执行各种各样的任务. 克雷斯波说:“早上，kok软件将进行例行检查。. “In the afternoon, it will be doing predictive maintenance, using instruments such as acoustic sensors and thermal cameras. 即使在晚上，如果工厂有警报，小不点也会去查看.” 

克雷斯波补充说:“kok足彩真的可以整天受益于机器人。. “The technology is there, the technology works, and now it is more about getting the industry to come together around it. Our clients are demanding this type of innovation.”