Construct - Issue 49

Innovation

SAFETY DOG TRIALS

ANAI-POWEREDROBOTIC ‘DOG’ IS REVOLUTIONISING SAFETY BY ELIMINATING THE RISKOF CONFINED SPACE ENTRY Developments in technology have the potential to hugely improve safety, as the structures division is discovering during trials of an artificial intelligence (AI) robot ‘dog’ that has the capability to eliminate the need for humans to enter unsafe confined spaces.

The robot quadruped is fitted with LIDAR and a 180-degree high resolution camera

authorities include investigating sudden collapses in the road or footway, as FM Conway structures director Adam Barnes explains: “At least 20 times a week, one of our teams will receive a notification that there has been a partial collapse or void in the highway or footway, and they will have to be on the spot to investigate within two hours.” Voids in the carriageway or footway can be caused by damaged utility services, poor reinstatement, water ingress in the underlying road layers, or the collapse of a basement or underground structure. “Our teams might not have a lot of information on what the structure is or how it was built,

Many of FM Conway’s long-term maintenance contracts with highways

18