MiRoR - Miniaturised Robotic systems for holistic in-situ Repair and maintenance works in restrained and hazardous environments

This paper presents the novel concept of a miniaturised robotised machine-tool, Mini-RoboMach, consisting of a walking hexapod robot (WalkingHex) and a Slender Continuum Arm (SCArm). By combining the mobility of a walking robot with the positioning accuracy of a machine tool, with its 24 + 25 degrees of freedom (DoFs), camera-based calibration system, laser scanner and two end-effectors of opposed orientations, the proposed system can provide a versatile tool for in-situ work (e.g. repair) in hazardous/unreachable locations in large installations.

Many industries with restricted or hazardous environments need in situ repair and inspection of large or intricate industrial installations for the correct operation of the industrial process. The potential danger to human life, as well as the fact that some areas cannot be accessed directly, requires some of these tasks to be performed without a human operator on site. Therefore, the EU-FP7 funded project MiRoR proposes a fundamental novel concept of a Miniaturized Robotic Machine.