When coming to building and construction inspection, Trimble X7 or Faro S150 is often deployed due to its magnificent 3D scanning and reconstruction capability, and versatile for different application fields. At the moment, many use cases of Trimble X7 or Faro S150 require intensive manpower to perform the setup and mobility. Weston Robot has engineered several platforms which can carry the above 3D scanners for different use cases.

Picture: Weston Robot Engineered a HDB Inspection Robot for NTU

Weston Robot’s SCOUT MINI UGV is a perfect platform for this application, it is easily fit to a SUV trunk with 20KG payload (50KG for mecanum wheels). The robot runs on 4-wheel differential drive with independent suspension. The onboard battery is strong enough to power edge-computation unit and different peripherals.

Picture: Weston Robot SCOUT MINI Used for Inspection and Patrolling

One of the key requirements we received is to make a computer-controlled rising platform which allows the scanner to work at different height. The rising platform must have small footprint and light weight to be installed on a mobile platform (AMR). Meanwhile, the platform must be able to provide millimeter accuracy with encoder and a minimum traveling range of 500mm. As the Trimble X7 or Faro S150 can easily go above 5KG with different connectors. The rising platform must be able to hold this payload yet supporting some lateral disturbances. Weston Robot’s engineering team deployed a linear motor to drive the platform, which saves space and provide ~10KG payload.

Picture: The Control Widget for The Rising Platform to Holder Trimble X7 or Faro S150

With Weston Robot’s Robot Assisted Driving Toolbox, professional inspectors can now remotely drive the robot equipped with Trimble X7 or Faro S150, which can save huge amount of time travelling to the site.  To bring more autonomy to the robot, Weston Robot’s team also added fully navigation capability by installing a OUSTER 3D lidar on the robot. With this 3D lidar, the robot is able to build the map of the to-be-inspected site and perform autonomous waypoint-based navigation.

Video: Weston Robot Engineered a HDB Inspection Robot for NTU

The to-be-inspected site might not have consistent high-bandwidth 4G/5G connectivity; thus, edge-computation is crucial to perform AI-based inspections. The robot equips with NVIDIA Xavier platform for edge computation.