The ROBINS project aimed at filling the technology and regulatory gaps representing a barrier to the adoption of Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) in activities related to inspection of ships.
The project focused mainly, as operational scenarios, to the inspections in bulk carrier holds and ballast tanks, since these use cases are representative of a wide variety of applications and can significantly benefit of the technologies developed.
In these environments, scaffoldings, cherry pickers and portable ladders are often needed for carrying out the required inspection tasks and the preparation is generally time-consuming, expensive and may cause damage to the coating. Furthermore, the surveyor is often required to access in hazardous or hard to reach areas (e.g. high or very narrow spaces).
The adoption of RAS can simplify the preparation required for the inspection, with potential reduction of costs, and make safer the operations, since the need of a physical access in hazardous areas is reduced.
However, a technological gap was found to be filled to give final users suitable means to consider inspection operated through RAS equivalent to those obtained by traditional procedures.
In order to address this gap, the project identified the following objectives:
- Improve the ability of RAS in sensing and probing;
- Improve capabilities in navigation and localization in confined spaces, access to and mobility within the environment;
- Improve safety and dependability of RAS in hazardous, harsh and dirty environments;
- Provide tools with special focus on the production of 3D models for virtual tours in augmented reality.
On the normative side, international standards, recognized and accepted by stakeholders and authorities, are still in progress and need to be finalized. Stable standards are a precondition to stimulate the European robotics industry and unleash the economic potential of new markets.
Concerning the regulatory aspects relevant to the use of RAS in ship inspection, the project set the following objectives:
- Provide a framework for the assessment of equivalence between the outcomes of RAS-assisted ship inspections and traditional inspection procedures, based on an evaluation of compliance of RAS platforms with a well-defined and limited set of requirements;
- Define criteria, testing procedures and metrics for the evaluation of RAS performance in terms of safety, functionality, dependability, security, data quality, economic viability;
- Design, implement and assess a testing environment where repeatable tests and measurements can be performed for the evaluation of compliance of RAS with the requirements;
- By means of the Testing Facility, provide to SMEs operating in the robotics industry a low-cost alternative/complement to expensive and difficult on-board field trials, where extensive test campaigns can be carried out aimed at facilitating the developments in technology for ship inspection.
