The project started with the intention to go beyond the state of the art, by implementing well-known technologies in the demolition and construction sector, were robotic technology is not yet prevalent. Addressing the implied challenges from a design and control point of view opens new fields of application. For the first time a robotic system, able to remove asbestos in a semi-automatic way, has been developed. The combination and enhancement of proven technology and its adaption to the robotics use-case will allow the clearance and refurbishment on rehabilitation sites by automated removal of asbestos contamination. This innovation process will provide a step change to a system prototype demonstrated in operational environment (TRL 7). In the project follow up, the findings and results will be used to complete and qualify the system for the operational environment (TRL 9), aiming at the successful commercialisation.
The main impacts of the project idea can be named like this:
- To increase and strengthen Europe's market share in robotics, by introducing new robotic technology to the very large European asbestos removal market.
- To improve the Technology Readiness Levels of robotics technologies by providing a system prototype demonstrated in the operational environment of the construction and demolition industry.
- To address ethical and societal issues by preventing the exposure of construction workers in Europe and worldwide to asbestos fibres. Furthermore the covering or the capsulation of the asbestos is too often preferred over the removal, postponing the load to manage this morbid inheritance to the future generations. By cost reduction of the process, the described innovation will help to speed up clearance and refurbishment processes in Europe and worldwide. Less often refurbishment needs to be avoided due to cost reasons.
At the end of the project, the targeted and achieved impacts can be compared as follows:
- The project has led to the development of a completely new robotic system for the construction industry. Compared to other systems, it is characterized in particular by a high payload and at the same time great freedom of movement. It was especially optimized for applications on construction sites in common living rooms. Radar technology, which has hardly been used in mobile robotics up to now, was used for the successful functioning of the system and thus makes a major contribution to the future automation of the construction industry. All in all, the introduction of new technologies in the construction industry can therefore be affirmed.
- The intended automation solution could not be tested under operational environments to the extent planned. Nevertheless, the functional testing was carried out in close to real environments, so that the increase in the TRL represents a technically sound consolidation rather than a risky new development. Therefore the developed robotic solution represents a level of automation and robustness that promises to be a great platform to further robotic development for the construction and demolition industry.
- The ethical and social influences of this automation project are identical even at the end of the project, as asbestos still represents a major health risk and the burden on present and future generations can only be reduced by robotic solutions such as Bots2ReC.
