Robocrane

Last updated August 30, 2019

The Robocrane is a kind of manipulator resembling a Stewart platform but using an octahedral assembly of cables instead of struts. Like the Stewart platform, the Robocrane has six degrees of freedom (x, y, z, pitch, roll, & yaw).

A Gough–Stewart platform is a type of parallel manipulator that has six prismatic actuators, commonly hydraulic jacks or electric linear actuators, attached in pairs to three positions on the platform's baseplate, crossing over to three mounting points on a top plate. All 12 connections are made via universal joints. Devices placed on the top plate can be moved in the six degrees of freedom in which it is possible for a freely-suspended body to move. These are the three linear movements x, y, z, and the three rotations. Because of its motions, it is also called a six-axis platform or 6-DoF platform.

In geometry, an octahedron is a polyhedron with eight faces, twelve edges, and six vertices. The term is most commonly used to refer to the regular octahedron, a Platonic solid composed of eight equilateral triangles, four of which meet at each vertex.

It was developed by Dr. James S. Albus of the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), using the Real-Time Control System which is a hierarchical control system. Given its unusual ability to "fly" tools around a work site, it has many possible applications, including stone carving, ship building, bridge construction, inspection, pipe or beam fitting and welding.

James Sacra Albus was an American engineer, Senior NIST Fellow and founder and former chief of the Intelligent Systems Division of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a physical sciences laboratory, and a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce. Its mission is to promote innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into laboratory programs that include nanoscale science and technology, engineering, information technology, neutron research, material measurement, and physical measurement.

A hierarchical control system (HCS) is a form of control system in which a set of devices and governing software is arranged in a hierarchical tree. When the links in the tree are implemented by a computer network, then that hierarchical control system is also a form of networked control system.

Albus invented and developed a new generation of robot cranes based on six cables and six winches configured as a Stewart platform. The NIST RoboCraneTM has the capacity to lift and precisely manipulate heavy loads over large volumes with fine control in all six degrees of freedom. Laboratory RoboCranes have demonstrated the ability to manipulate tools such as saws, grinders, and welding torches, and to lift and precisely position heavy objects such as steel beams and cast iron pipe. In 1992, the RoboCrane was selected by Construction Equipment magazine as one of the 100 most significant new products of the year for construction and related industries. It was also selected by Popular Science magazine for the "Best of What's New" award as one of the 100 top products, technologies, and scientific achievements of 1992.^[1]

Popular Science is an American quarterly magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. Popular Science has won over 58 awards, including the American Society of Magazine Editors awards for its journalistic excellence in both 2003 and 2004. With roots beginning in 1872, Popular Science has been translated into over 30 languages and is distributed to at least 45 countries.

A version of the RoboCrane has been commercially developed for the United States Air Force to enable rapid paint stripping, inspection, and repainting of very large military aircraft such as the C-5 Galaxy. RoboCrane is expected to save the United States Air Force $8 million annually at each of its maintenance facilities. This project was recognized in 2008 by a National Laboratories Award for technology transfer. Potential future applications of the RoboCrane include ship building, construction of high rise buildings, highways, bridges, tunnels, and port facilities; cargo handling, ship-to-ship cargo transfer on the high seas, radioactive and toxic waste clean-up; and underwater applications such as salvage, drilling, cable maintenance, and undersea waste site management.^[1]

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial and space warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the five branches of the United States Armed Forces, and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially formed as a part of the United States Army on 1 August 1907, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the U.S. Armed Forces on 18 September 1947 with the passing of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the youngest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, and the fourth in order of precedence. The USAF is the largest and most technologically advanced air force in the world. The Air Force articulates its core missions as air and space superiority, global integrated intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike, and command and control.

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A remotely operated underwater vehicle is a tethered underwater mobile device.

A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist rope, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It is mainly used for lifting heavy things and transporting them to other places. The device uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of a human. Cranes are commonly employed in the transport industry for the loading and unloading of freight, in the construction industry for the movement of materials, and in the manufacturing industry for the assembling of heavy equipment.

Sanitary sewer Underground pipe or tunnel system for transporting sewage from houses or buildings to treatment facilities or disposal

A sanitary sewer or foul sewer is an underground pipe or tunnel system for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment facilities or disposal. Sanitary sewers are part of an overall system called a sewage system or sewerage.

Electron-beam welding (EBW) is a fusion welding process in which a beam of high-velocity electrons is applied to two materials to be joined. The workpieces melt and flow together as the kinetic energy of the electrons is transformed into heat upon impact. EBW is often performed under vacuum conditions to prevent dissipation of the electron beam.

An aerial work platform (AWP), also known as an aerial device, elevating work platform (EWP), bucket truck or mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) is a mechanical device used to provide temporary access for people or equipment to inaccessible areas, usually at height. There are distinct types of mechanized access platforms and the individual types may also be known as a "cherry picker" or "scissor lift."

In robotics a manipulator is a device used to manipulate materials without direct contact. The applications were originally for dealing with radioactive or biohazardous materials, using robotic arms, or they were used in inaccessible places. In more recent developments they have been used in diverse range of applications including welding automation, robotically-assisted surgery and in space. It is an arm-like mechanism that consists of a series of segments, usually sliding or jointed called cross-slides, which grasp and move objects with a number of degrees of freedom.

A gantry crane is a crane built atop a gantry, which is a structure used to straddle an object or workspace. They can range from enormous "full" gantry cranes, capable of lifting some of the heaviest loads in the world, to small shop cranes, used for tasks such as lifting automobile engines out of vehicles. They are also called portal cranes, the "portal" being the empty space straddled by the gantry.

A pipe is a tubular section or hollow cylinder, usually but not necessarily of circular cross-section, used mainly to convey substances which can flow — liquids and gases (fluids), slurries, powders and masses of small solids. It can also be used for structural applications; hollow pipe is far stiffer per unit weight than solid members.

The Port of Ashdod is one of Israel's two main cargo ports. The port is located in Ashdod, about 40 kilometers south of Tel Aviv, adjoining the mouth of the Lachish River. Its establishment significantly enhanced the country's port capacity. It handles the largest volume of cargo containers annually of all Israeli ports. Ships carrying humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip also unload their cargo at Ashdod.

Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots. Robotics is related to the sciences of electronics, engineering, mechanics, and software. The word "robot" was introduced to the public by Czech writer Karel Čapek in his play R.U.R., published in 1920. The term "robotics" was coined by Isaac Asimov in his 1941 science fiction short-story "Liar!"

The Real-time Control System (RCS) is a software system developed by NIST based on the Real-time Control System Reference Model Architecture, that implements a generic Hierarchical control system. The RCS Software Library is an archive of free C++, Java and Ada code, scripts, tools, makefiles, and documentation developed to aid programmers of software to be used in real-time control systems.

Doosan Babcock Ltd is part of Doosan Power Systems S.A., a subsidiary of Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction. It is a power sector OEM, construction, upgrade and after-market services company that offers specialist services and technologies to the fossil-fired power generation, nuclear power generation, and oil, gas and petrochemical industries.

A bulk-handling crane is one that, instead of a simple hook that can handle a range of slung loads, has an integral grab for lifting bulk cargoes such as coal, mineral ore etc.

Real-time Control System (RCS) is a reference model architecture, suitable for many software-intensive, real-time control problem domains. RCS is a reference model architecture that defines the types of functions that are required in a real-time intelligent control system, and how these functions are related to each other.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to robotics:

BOKA Vanguard is a semi-submersible heavy lift ship owned and operated by Dockwise B.V. Dockwise Vanguard is the largest vessel of her type ever built, and is able to carry cargoes up to 110,000 tonnes. Dockwise Vanguard was designed to move offshore oil and gas facilities, but can also carry other ships and act as an offshore dry dock facility.

Remote Applications in Challenging Environments (RACE) is a remote handling and robotics test facility located at Culham Science Centre near Oxford, UK, operated by UKAEA. As part of the UK Government's Robotics and Autonomous Systems Strategy (RAS) this is one of the initiatives that is supporting development and growth in remote handling. RACE uses the broad range of expertise from UKAEA and CCFE's past experience in remote handling used on JET.

Robotic non-destructive testing (NDT) is a method of inspection used to assess the structural integrity of petroleum, natural gas, and water installations. Crawler-based robotic tools are commonly used for in-line inspection (ILI) applications in pipelines that cannot be inspected using traditional intelligent pigging tools.

References

This article incorporates public domain material from the National Institute of Standards and Technology website https://www.nist.gov .

1 2 CURRICULUM VITAE FOR JAMES S. ALBUS Archived 2001-07-13 at the Wayback Machine Accessed Aug 2, 2009.

External links

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools, the university became the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1912 and began granting four-year degrees. In 1967, the Carnegie Institute of Technology merged with the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research to form Carnegie Mellon University. With its main campus located 3 miles (5 km) from Downtown Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon has grown into an international university with over a dozen degree-granting locations in six continents, including campuses in Qatar and Silicon Valley, and more than 20 research partnerships.

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[Bio08-1] 1 2 CURRICULUM VITAE FOR JAMES S. ALBUS Archived 2001-07-13 at the Wayback Machine Accessed Aug 2, 2009.