Victor Petrovic* says Snowy Hydro is trailing a robot dog to gather data and perform maintenance work at power station.
A robotic dog has been tasked with maintenance work at Snowy Hydro in southern New South Wales.
The robot, named Spot, is equipped with a 360-degree camera, light detection and ranging (LIDAR) scanning hardware, and a robotic arm.
It recently completed a test at Tumut 2 Power Station, where it was controlled remotely by staff.
The Boston Dynamics model was adapted by technology company Emesent, which said it would be exploring the site and collecting data about Snowy Hydro’s equipment and buildings.
“It can open and close doors and turn levers to close or open pipes,” company co-founder Farid Kendoul said.
Snowy Hydro said it was trialling the technology to investigate ways robotics could improve operations.
Both companies said they were working out the best way to develop and use Spot at the site after the trial.
“These power plants are very complex sites. Generally they function 24/7 and you need people to always be on stand-by,” Dr Kendoul said.
“The idea is to have robotic dogs equipped with sensing and autonomic capabilities living on the site.
“They’re pre-programmed to inspect areas of interest and send an alarm to the users.”
The technology was still being developed and Emesent said more work was needed to understand how the robot would navigate very tough terrain, and how it communicated with its base.
Snowy Hydro said it was developing a business case to determine how to use the technology.
*Victor Petrovic is a journalist in the ABC Riverina newsroom, filing for radio, TV & online.
This article first appeared at abc.net.au.
