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A cost-effective robotic solution for the cleaning of ships' hulls

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2009

A. Iborra ,
J. A. Pastor ,
D. Alonso ,
B. Alvarez ,
F. J. Ortiz ,
P. J. Navarro ,
C. Fernández  and
J. Suardiaz
A. Iborra*
Affiliation:
Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, División de Sistemas e Ingeniería Electrónica. Campus Muralla del Mar, s/n. Cartagena, E-30202, Spain
J. A. Pastor
Affiliation:
Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, División de Sistemas e Ingeniería Electrónica. Campus Muralla del Mar, s/n. Cartagena, E-30202, Spain
D. Alonso
Affiliation:
Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, División de Sistemas e Ingeniería Electrónica. Campus Muralla del Mar, s/n. Cartagena, E-30202, Spain
B. Alvarez
Affiliation:
Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, División de Sistemas e Ingeniería Electrónica. Campus Muralla del Mar, s/n. Cartagena, E-30202, Spain
F. J. Ortiz
Affiliation:
Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, División de Sistemas e Ingeniería Electrónica. Campus Muralla del Mar, s/n. Cartagena, E-30202, Spain
P. J. Navarro
Affiliation:
Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, División de Sistemas e Ingeniería Electrónica. Campus Muralla del Mar, s/n. Cartagena, E-30202, Spain
C. Fernández
Affiliation:
Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, División de Sistemas e Ingeniería Electrónica. Campus Muralla del Mar, s/n. Cartagena, E-30202, Spain
J. Suardiaz
Affiliation:
Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, División de Sistemas e Ingeniería Electrónica. Campus Muralla del Mar, s/n. Cartagena, E-30202, Spain
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: andres.iborra@upct.es
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Summary

Hull cleaning before repainting is a key operation in the maintenance of ships. For more than a decade, a means to improve this operation has been sought through robotization and the use of different techniques such as grit blasting and ultra high pressure water jetting. Despite this, it continues to be standard practice in shipyards that this process is carried out manually. This paper presents a family of robots that aims to offer important improvements to the process as well as satisfying, to a great extent, all the operative requirements of efficiency, security, and respect for the environment that shipyards nowadays demand. It is described the family of devices with emphasis on the mechanical design. This set consists of two vertical robotic towers and a robot climber. In addition, it is shown the control architecture of the global system. Finally, operative results are presented together with a comparison between the performance achieved in shipyards through the use of these robots and those obtained with a manual process.

Keywords

Service robotsShip repair industryGrit blasting

Information

Type
Article
Information
Robotica , Volume 28 , Issue 3 , May 2010 , pp. 453 - 464
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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