Float Arm selected by Nippon Foundation – DeepStar “Collaborative Technology Development Assistance” Program
(Tokyo, June 29) Float Arm, a robotic system developed by the Japanese startup Hibot Corp., was selected by the Nippon Foundation – DeepStar Collaborative Technology Development Assistance program, for field trials and customization towards application in offshore facilities.
Float Arm is a multi-link manipulator designed especially for inspection and maintenance of infrastructure in narrow, hazardous or confined environments. Due to its internal weight-compensation mechanism, Float Arm is modular, lighter and more compact than other similar devices, and is able to navigate through obstacles in cluttered environments.
So far, hibot has been developing Float Arm for inspection and maintenance of chemical plants. However, offshore platforms would also benefit greatly from the use of robotic systems that are able to perform inspection and maintenance. Normally, when such operations are undertaken, teams of 20~30 people are required to visit offshore platforms with heavy equipment, resulting in significant costs and downtime for the asset owner.
By adapting Float Arm to operate on offshore assets, it becomes possible to: reduce manpower and energy consumption; improve safety of works in dangerous environments, such as underwater or in high places; and increase the efficiency and reliability of inspection and maintenance works.
The DeepStar program will advance the feasibility of remote inspection and maintenance of offshore facilities, thus reducing the carbon footprint of such activities, and moving towards the accomplishment of the Sustainable Development Goal 9 (resilient infrastructure, sustainable industrialization and innovation).
"This project award is a great opportunity for us to extend the field of use of Float Arm to offshore platforms”, summarized Michele Guarnieri, CEO of hibot. “Through this Float Arm deployment, together with the features of the HiBox digital platform, we aim at enabling our partners in their digital transformation process while making their inspection and maintenance operations safer. Together with the DeepStar members and the Nippon Foundation, we are making one more step toward a safer world through robotics".
About hibot
Established in 2004, hibot is a robotics start-up originating from within the Tokyo Institute of Technology, committed to realizing a safer and more sustainable world by creating new trends in infrastructure inspection and maintenance. Hibot develops and utilizes AI-powered remotely controlled robots that allow human beings to be removed from dirty, dangerous or demanding working environments. Hibot’s robots have been applied in search and rescue missions, and have been used during decommissioning work at Japan’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. CEO: Michele Guarnieri.
For more information, see http://www.hibot.co.jp
Contact:
Takeyuki Iijima, Takuya Takenokuchi
Telephone: +81 (0)3 5791 7526
E-mail: press@hibot.co.jp
