From an article in New Civil Engineer by Rob Horgan.
Bam Nuttall successfully trialled the integrated Trimble X7 laser scanner with Boston Dynamics’ Spot® robot in a remote construction setting in the first use case of its kind.
Enlisting Spot as the newest member of the site team, the four-legged robot used specially adapted 3D laser scanning equipment to collect data and create site records. Spot and the Trimble X7 payload were controlled remotely using a private 5G communications network covering the 55,176m2 site, marking the robot’s first 5G deployment in the U.K.
Given the harsh weather conditions, challenging terrain, and isolated location, remote operation was critical to the trial’s success, as it proved the robot could take on days of manual surveying work and operate in areas and conditions hazardous to people – without operators needing to be on site or even travel to the remote island at all.
The trial was carried out as part of a 5G testbed funded by Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Bam Nuttall led a consortium, with Attocore and BRE to carry out the trial.
Bam Nuttall head of innovation Colin Evison said: “This is just the start of our journey with Trimble and Boston Dynamics. We’ve worked with them every step of the way, conducting site visits and feeding back how Spot is working for us.
“Boston Dynamics have been successful at applying the technology across many industries and both they and us can see the potential within construction.
“When technology enters a new market for any industry, changes need to be made to make a solution which is bespoke to the situations encountered day to day. Trimble and Boston Dynamics have welcomed feedback from the start and our collaborative relationship has led to a solution which we believe could revolutionise our ways of working.”
He added: “As we face a skills shortage, become more in tune with the wellbeing of our people, and strive for more diversity, Spot has a number of benefits to safety and job design. This is all in addition to improvements to the efficiency and accuracy of our work.”
For the complete article on Spot the robotic dog CLICK HERE.
