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Dive Brief:
- Research to pilot robots remotely and improve how the machines model construction environments is underway at the University of California, San Diego.
- The team, led by electrical and computer engineering professors Truong Nguyen and Nikolay Atanasov, is looking at ways to integrate robotics into the construction industry and improve the 3D models and maps they use to navigate their environments, according to one Press release of December 16.
- Atanasov, who directs UC San Diego’s Existential Robotics Lab, said the goal of the project is to automate the dangerous and dirty aspects of the construction industry, such as lifting heavy objects or welding, according to the release .
Diving knowledge:
The work is divided into two parts: mapping the area the robot will need to see or understand and operating the machine remotely. Mapping turns what the robot sees into a 3D model, which the pilot can interact with.
In recent years, robots have increased focus for the construction sectorbecause of its varied applications—laying bricks, throwing bags, and autonomously performing tasks like design—and its potential to keep humans away from dangerous jobs.
“Understandably, most workers are not willing to put themselves in dangerous situations,” Nguyen said in the statement. “The work we’re doing now means that a single operator can remotely operate multiple robots that can perform these tasks in a safer, more efficient and more convenient way.”
The group is almost halfway through the $786,500 project, which will run until the end of August 2027. Part of the funding comes from the Korea Institute of Advanced Technology, a government research funding initiative of South Korea, and the Korea Institute of Electronics Technology, a South Korean institute. research institute
The research team will then focus on integrating the two solutions into a cohesive system. South Korean smart building company ITOne, another grant funder, will test the solution in a project to build apartments with robotic arms, the statement said.
“We are very pleased with the results of the 3D build, but we need to integrate this technology with robotic manipulators,” Brian Lee, a postdoctoral researcher in Atanasov’s lab, said in the statement. “Now, we need to test it with a human operator and integrate our system with a convincing configuration that can interact with a human.”
