About
RoboHop is the first robotic crawler capable of delivering dry ultrasonic inspection in complex structures such as cargo tanks which require the robot to be able to traverse vertical surfaces.
RoboHop is a novel robotic inspection platform designed with three core principles in mind:
- Ability to transition between vertical surfaces so as to traverse complex geometries
- Ability to perform inspection without the need of prior surface cleaning.
- Ultra-low cost of ownership.
This is achieved by bringing together the necessary resources to design and develop both the robot and the ultrasonic inspection tool entirely in-house rather than relying on commercial inspection tools.
Solutions
RoboHop is designed and developed building both on lessons learnt from our own experience in automating inspection tasks in the shipping industry. We’ve seen first-hand what has worked and what has failed and have obtained a deep understanding of end-user’s needs.
Health & Safety risks
are high with Falling from Height and Enclosed Space accidents dominating death and injury causes in maritime
Surface Hopping
Thanks to its tailored design based on magnetic wheels, RoboHop can transition between vertical surfaces without risking detachment. This is a crucial feature for complex structures such as cargo tanks, unlike ship hulls, are rife with structural features.
Structure complexity
increases vessel idle time which costs > €50,000 per day.
Dry Inspection
RoboHop leverages the Electro Magnetic Acoustic Transducer (EMAT) technique, which generates the sound in the part inspected instead of the transducer. Because of this fundamentally different approach compared to conventional ultrasonics EMATs can perform dry inspection, i.e. they do not require couplants for transmitting sound. EMAT can inspect through coatings and are not affected by pollutants, oxidation or roughness.
Cargo Contamination
cases are on the rise, costing > €100,000 per incident.
Low Cost
The entire system is designed and developed in-house avoiding the high mark-ups associated with Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) ultrasonic inspection tools. This allows us to keep manufacturing costs at the absolute minimum and offer RoboHop at a price that will be an absolute bargain for service providers.