SIMAR proposes a new type of inspection robot that is composed of an aerial system with advanced navigation capabilities that will allow to safely land on pipes, even if they are located in complex and cluttered locations and deploy and light-weight crawlers that integrate either adapted X-ray or PEC (Pulsed Eddy-Current) sensors to perform complete inspections of insulated pipes.
The main purpose of SIMAR resides on keeping the human workers of dangerous industrial plants in a location, where inspection and maintenance activities can be performed in a safe and healthy way. This will be done by applying the MOVE, SUPPORT and UNDERSTAND functionalities, integrated into a unique system, validated in a controlled
environment, and finally demonstrated in a real operational industrial facility of the SIMAR end-users. MOVE will be implemented by robots with flying and crawling locomotion, SUPPORT by the application of Augmented Reality, and UNDERSTAND by means of Artificial Intelligence.
In order to overcome the above challenge, SIMAR will pursue four objectives:
1. Multipurpose aerial/ground robotic system to keep away workers from dangerous situations for a safe, robust, and trusted inspection
2.Artificial Intelligence and augmented reality systems to reduce human workload and level of stress
3.Human-centered robotics inspection system
4.TRL7 validation and demonstration on an operational petrochemical facility taking into account end-users' requirements.
SIMAR consortium is formed by 6 high-profile European partners (CATEC, AUTH, QUASSET, CHEVRON, USE and BASF) from 5 EU Member States, which have been carefully selected for their proven experience, as well as their complementarity and transnationality, in order to give the necessary knowledge, expertise, and cutting-edge background to assure the success of the project.
