Application of service robots for building NDT inspection tasks

Purpose – Building inspection tasks usually involve working at life‐threatening height, especially for high‐rise buildings. The purpose of this paper is to introduce two service robots which are designed for high‐rise building inspection applications. Design/methodology/approach – The first service robot, equipped with independent‐climbing capability, is applied to gas pipe inspection. The robot requires very little setup time and is suitable for some small inspection tasks. The second, which shares some similarities of industrial gondolas, is applied to check the health conditions of tile‐walls of high‐rise buildings. This robot requires more initial setup time but can provide faster inspection operations. In addition, it can be programmed to carry out the inspection task automatically. So, it is more suitable for large‐scale inspection tasks. Findings – For tile‐wall inspection, a fast, low‐cost and effective non‐destructive testing technique based on impact acoustic method has been developed for the robot. Originality/value – Both prototypes have been applied to housing estates for evaluation purposes.