The Eurecat technology centre has taken part in the European Aero-Train project for fast-tracking a new generation of technologies to automate infrastructure inspection and maintenance by harnessing aerial robotics and smart systems which will help to streamline operations and step up safety.
The initiative has fostered training for early stage researchers who have generated scientific publications and prototypes, including concepts such as the design and control of aerial platforms which can interact physically with the environment coupled with technology enabling teleportation and assistance to operators for remote control of aerial devices in challenging situations.
Aero-Train has enabled the students to build networks and share knowledge to evolve the current state-of-the-art and maturity of technologies for infrastructure inspection and maintenance in industry.
Autonomy and simplified operation of aerial devices in challenging situations
The project has driven innovations in aerial robotics to enhance operational autonomy, safety and efficiency in inspection tasks and physical interactions which will lessen human involvement in hazardous jobs.
The researchers have also explored new systems which blend augmented reality, deep learning and enhanced screens for remote operation in the interaction between people and drones or robots to optimise the information and knowledge available to operators and thereby reduce their workload.
Until now, “drones have mostly been passive devices for observing the environment whereas the Aero-Train project has developed systems which allow them to interact with this environment, turning these robots into an active device which makes it possible to shift from routine monitoring to infrastructure maintenance,” points out Daniel Serrano, the director of Eurecat’s Robotics Unit.
Maintaining critical infrastructures in today’s society ‘‘is very costly and time-consuming, two factors that this type of solution can help to mitigate.’’
As part of the activities undertaken in Aero-Train, Eurecat’s Robotics and Automation Unit has opened up its laboratories and supported the developments made by the researchers taking part in the initiative. It has also run a week of tests at the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) Sabadell Rambla facilities in the former FGC Sabadell Rambla train station to trial drone inspection developments.
The project has been “an ideal opportunity for the early stage researchers to forge a network of contacts with the most prominent businesses, technology centres and universities in the industry in Europe and lasting connections have also been made between the consortium partners,” says Julián Cayero, head of the Aerial Robotics line at Eurecat.
Furthermore, “the project has brought us much closer to robots which can perform high-risk tasks such as hanging from a wind turbine on ropes to check its status.”
The project “has trained a new generation of creative, entrepreneurial and innovative early stage researchers to become the future leaders in aerial robotic technologies for inspection and maintenance,” adds project coordinator Matteo Fumagalli.
The Aero-Train consortium has a €4.1 million budget and 14 partners from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Spain, Italy and Switzerland. The project has been funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme under the H2020-MSCA-ITN-2020 call for excellence in researcher education and training.
