A Comparison of Two Innovative Technologies for Safe Pipe Installation – “Pipeman” and the Stewart-Gough Platform-Based Pipe Manipulator

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bernold LE ; Kim K-T
• Description:
  Excavating and installing utilities between the narrow walls of a trench are hazardous. The main causes of accidents are tools and materials that fall into the confined space and the instability of the trench walls if not properly supported. Two research teams from Korea and the US worked for several years on developing technological interventions capable of installing large concrete pipes tele-robotically. A serial mechanism with 2-Degrees of Freedom (DOF) was applied to the "Pipeman" (short for Pipe-manipulator), which was developed at the North Carolina State University (NCSU), and connected to the bucket of the backhoe excavator. The Stewart-Gough Platform, which provides 6-DOF, was adopted for the Stewart Platform-based Pipe Manipulator (SPPM) developed by the Korea Institute of Construction Technology (KICT) and it was directly connected to the boom instead of the bucket. The paper compares how the two research teams solved some of the most unique technical problems and presents the lessons learned during the field tests. Despite the differences between the two prototypes, both systems demonstrated their technical readiness to install pipes in trenches without the presence of laborers. Experiments with actual field personnel not only highlighted the value of involving future users in the evaluation of early prototypes, but also provided reassuring data that the innovative devices will be able to reduce cycle times and cost while increasing the productivity of pipe installation. The ongoing process of adding improvements gives rise to the hope that tele-robotic pipe installation will eventually lead to the elimination of deaths in trenches around the globe. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Confined Spaces Construction Industry Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Tele-robotic Pipe Laying Confined Spaces Construction Automation Construction Equipment Equipment Testing Performance Evaluation Pipe Manipulator Robotics Stewart-Gough Platform Technological Innovation Technology Transfer Trenches Utility Workers

  More +
• ISSN:
  0926-5805
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  322-332
• Volume:
  17
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20055746
• Citation:
  Autom Constr 2008 Mar; 17(3):322-332
• Contact Point Address:
  Kyoon-Tai Kim, Construction Engineering and Management Research Department, Korea Institute of Construction Technology (KICT) 2311, Daewha-Dong, Ilsan-Gu, Goyang-Si, Gyeonggi-Do, 411-712, Republic of Korea
• Email:
  ktkim@kict.re.kr
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2008
• Performing Organization:
  North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20010930
• Source Full Name:
  Automation in Construction
• End Date:
  20050531
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7f57dec25bc0daa86cdeaae8e8f1b59376abf7af8fbe6657a52643e2967a2d2a4850affbdee0b3d174290b04a90793f26f593258df6d1ee7d66a558619bd1b62
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/213527/cdc_213527_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.07 MB ]