• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.56 no.1
• /
• pp.64-69
• /
• 2024

According to the market research report, the nuclear decommissioning services market is currently experiencing considerable growth, with a projected Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of nearly 13% during the 2020-2024 forecast period. This expansion is primarily fueled by the advancement of Industry 4.0, in conjunction with the emergence of cutting-edge technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence, and 5G. Even though the fact that robots have already been utilized in the nuclear industry, their adoption has been hindered by conservative regulations. However, the nuclear decommissioning market presents an opportunity for the advancement of robotics technology. The British have already invested heavily in encouraging the use of intelligent robots for nuclear decommissioning, and other countries, such as Taiwan, should follow suit. Taiwan's flourishing robotics development industry in manufacturing, logistics, and other domains can be leveraged to introduce advanced robotics in the decommissioning of its nuclear power plants. By doing so, Taiwan can establish itself as a competitive player in the nuclear decommissioning services market for the next two decades.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
• /
• 2005.10a
• /
• pp.527-532
• /
• 2005

The construction industries are facing problems of productivity, quality of work, safety, and the completion of projects in time. In construction industry a worker is exposed to hazardous environment, and has to do more physical work, effecting his health and also productivity. The automation and robotics can offer solution to many problems of the industry. In the past the major barrier to construction automation is the lack of electronic components and systems. This is solved now with the development of information technology, and the current obstacle is the high cost of automated systems, shortage of public money for R&D, and problems of acceptance. The robots employed in construction have followed the same concept as those employed in manufacturing. However, construction industry requires a different kind of robot compared to manufacturing Industry. The robots are stationery and product moves along the assembly line in manufacturing sector, but construction robots have to move about the site because buildings are stationary and of large size. The construction robots must function in adverse weather conditions, including variation in humidity, and temperature and increase the overall construction productivity rate. The major objective of the paper is to review the existing applications of building robots and to assess their implementation in building industry. A case study is considered for the implementation of robots for the painting work of the University Building at Saifabad PG College of Science, Hyderabad, India.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.35-40
• /
• 2021

As the robot industry develops, industrial automation uses industrial robots in many parts of the manufacturing industry. However, rigidity-based conventional robots have a disadvantage in that they are challenging to use in environments where they grab fragile objects or interact with people because of their high rigidity. Therefore, researches on soft robot have been actively conducted. The soft robot can hold or manipulate fragile objects by using its compliance and has high safety even in an atypical environment with human interaction. However, these advantages are difficult to use in dynamic situations and control by the material's nonlinear behavior. However, for the soft robot to be used in the industry, control is essential. Therefore, in this paper, real-time PD control is applied, and the behavior of the soft actuator is analyzed by providing various waveforms as inputs. Also, Iterative learning control (ILC) is applied to reduce errors and select an ILC type suitable for soft actuators.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
• /
• 2006.04a
• /
• pp.50-57
• /
• 2006

In recent years, a mm1ber of construction robots have been developed, but few practical examples can be found on construction sites today. Nevertheless, automation and robotics are proposed as apparent solutions to problems in productivity, quality, safety, and skilled-labor availability in future construction industry. Since the early 2000s, there has been growing interest in construction automation and robotics in Korea, and significant progresses have also been made. This paper mainly describes the needs of research and development program to introduce robots on construction sites, and primary outcomes which are developed in domestic construction industry. Essential technologies required for the development of construction robots, future prospects of the technology advances, and several suggestions are also presented in this paper.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
• /
• v.25 no.4_2
• /
• pp.655-662
• /
• 2022

Recently, with the increase in the use of UAV(unmanned aerial vehicles), research on horizontal maintenance stations that can take off and land in various environments has been actively conducted. These stations can safely land UAV through multiple DOF(degrees of freedom) or at least 2-DOF-based actuator actuation. Among them, many researchers are dealing with the multi-DOF stewart platform due to its high safety. However, the stewart platform requires high-precision control technology because it requires a lot of torque to actuate according to the load action. Therefore, in this paper, to solve the mentioned problem, a bevel gear-based 2-DOF horizontal maintenance station system is proposed. The proposed system is configured to prevent damage due to air resistance when maintaining ships and to install it in a small space. Also, in terms of system configuration, the bevel gear-based horizontal maintenance system has the main advantage of being able to take off and land UAVs of various sizes through the replacement of station pads. The driving of the system consists of a simple form that can control the motor by adjusting the rotation speed of the motor according to the sea waveform.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
• /
• 2009.05a
• /
• pp.237-241
• /
• 2009

Automation and robotic technology (ART) has been successfully applied in the manufacturing and allied industries to achieve on-time delivery of quality products at increasingly reduced costs. Meeting time, quality and cost targets still remains a big challenge in the global construction industry with prevalence of time and cost overruns. Application of ART in the construction industry could contribute to significant improvement in the efficient and effective delivery of projects to meet and exceed client expectations. However, the uptake of ART is still low in the construction industry. This study investigates the various ways in which ART could be applied to improve construction project delivery, potential areas of applications, and constraints to the uptake of the technology in the construction industry. Recommendations are made for improving the uptake of ART in the construction industry.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
• /
• v.25 no.5
• /
• pp.799-810
• /
• 2022

Welding work is a production work method widely used throughout the industry, and various types of welding technologies exist. In addition, many methods are being studied to automate these welding operations using robots, but in the ship manufacturing field, welding such as painting, cutting, and grinding is also the most common operation, but the manual operation ratio is higher than in other industries. Such a high manual labor ratio in the field of ship manufacturing not only causes quality problems and production delays according to the skill of workers, but also causes problems in the supply and demand of manpower. Therefore, this paper analyzed the reason why the automation rate is low in welding work at ship manufacturing sites compared to other industries, and analyzed the production process and field environment for small and medium-sized ship manufacturing companies that repeatedly manufactured with a small quantity production method. Based on the analysis results, it is intended to propose a robot system that can easily move between workplaces and secure uniform welding quality and productivity by collaborating simple welding tasks with humans. Finally, the simulation environment is constructed and analyzed to secure the suitability of robot system application to current production site environment, work process, and productivity, rather than to develop and apply the proposed robot system. Through such pre-simulation and robot system suitability analysis, it is expected to reduce trial and error that may occur in actual field installation and operation, and to improve the possibility of robot application and positive perception of robot system at ship manufacturing sites.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
• /
• 2022.06a
• /
• pp.370-374
• /
• 2022

Construction is a labor-intensive industry that heavily relies on skilled construction workers. However, the aging of the workforce is rapidly growing, and the shortage of skilled workers is intensifying. The application of construction robotics technology can solve the problem of workforce shortage and guarantee construction productivity, safety, and quality improvement. This study presents a framework of the functional analysis for construction processes and work tasks that classifies and analyzes processes and work tasks for construction robotics design. The framework presents the functional analysis process, which analyzes workers' attributes and identifies functions of construction robotics.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.343-350
• /
• 2023

With the advent of the recent Fourth Industrial Revolution, efforts are vigorously underway to comprehend the new paradigm of Construction 4.0, following in the footsteps of Industry 4.0, and to establish novel production systems. The necessity and significance of technological advancements in the field of construction automation and robotics, a pivotal component for Construction 4.0, are being emphasized. This paper aims to discuss the concept of construction automation and robotics, encompassing its past, present, and future prospects. Particularly, it reviews the six relevant papers featured in the June 2022 special issue of IJHRB, along with discussions on the integration of cutting-edge ICT technologies and R&D in the realm of automation and robotics. With the progression of ICT technology, the domain of construction automation and robotics is anticipated to play a substantial role in the realization of Construction 4.0 and smart construction through more dynamic convergence in technological development.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.387-396
• /
• 2022

Logistics industry still heavily relies on human labor in many field processes. However, robot applications in logistics are rapidly increasing, encouraged by technological progresses in robotics and cheaper robot solutions from competition between robot suppliers. Effectiveness of logistics automation are higher productivity for cost reduction and increased process capabilities for better profit, which is witnessed in many fields of logistics industry. In this paper, differences in logistics services - contract logistics, parcel, and fulfillment - are addressed, and characteristics and issues in application of various kinds of logistics robots such as AGV, AMR, ASRS, box/piece handling robots and robotic wearable devices are discussed. The advantages from flexibility and scalability of logistics automation by robots will benefit the future logistics business.