Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and Chiba Institute of Technology have developed a flammable gas atmosphere exploration robot.It announced that it has acquired the explosion-proof certification by the explosion-proof electrical equipment certification body, which is the first mobile robot in Japan.As a result, even if an electric machine is put into a disaster site filled with flammable gas, it is possible to collect information at the disaster site without inducing an explosion due to ignition.
As for domestic infrastructure such as tunnels and oil refineries, the number of aging structures 50 years after construction will increase rapidly, but the shortage of funds and human resources necessary for dealing with them has become a major social problem.Therefore, NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization) has been implementing the "Social Issue Response System Development Project for Infrastructure Maintenance and Renewal" since FY2014.We have promoted research and development of robots that acquire information necessary for maintenance in structures that are difficult for humans to enter.
The robot developed this time is an exploration robot for remotely controlling flammable gas information and grasping the collapsed state in the event of a collapse disaster in a tunnel.It weighs 60 kg and runs 1.2 km / h.Stable ascent and descent is possible even on stairs with an inclination of 45 degrees.The continuous operation time is 2.5 hours, and it can be remotely controlled up to 100 m by radio control, and up to 1,000 m by wired control with an explosion-proof cable even in tunnels where radio waves are difficult to reach.In addition, the on-board high-sensitivity camera and gas detector enable efficient grasping and analysis of the situation at the site.In addition, it passed the explosion-proof certification by adopting an explosion-proof structure with a dual system of internal pressure and pressure-resistant explosion-proof.
The certification obtained this time is an explosion-proof structure type certification that is valid in Japan, and it is expected that it will enable quick and accurate on-site decision making and will greatly contribute to the prevention of the spread of disasters and the saving of lives.In the future, it is said that it will expand globally with a view to acquiring certification (ATEX) in Europe.
