Robots: From Magic To Mission Ready

In reality capture, robots have just passed the Arthur C. Clarke test.?

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” is an accurate description of the autonomous robots and platforms we are putting to work for our customers in 2023. On land and in the sky, robots enabled for autonomy can now complete scanning missions without any human intervention.?

From autonomous digital twin captures of construction sites to personalized, focused emergency response to large-scale manufacturing and construction, robots are a growing part of our customers’ working lives.?

Robots have the potential to improve our everyday working environment to life in ways we never thought possible. One example of this is in mining. Mining’s autonomous future is not far off: the largest deployment of autonomous vehicles in a single site is already in existence in a mine in Australia. The implications of the success of this robot deployment – in terms of safety, security, and sustainability – are widespread for the mining industry, and many others, at large.?

Hexagon has been working in robotics for a number of years with a particular focus on, for example, developing software that will enable non-specialists to control any industrial robot. We have also been researching and developing ways to integrate digital capture for sectors like construction as outlined above.

Last year we added the first fully integrated LiDAR UAV to our solutions. The BLK2FLY is an autonomous flying laser scanner for easy reality capture from the sky. With this robot, we can scan inaccessible areas like rooftops and facades with a few taps on a tablet. With advanced obstacle avoidance, we can tell the robot where to go and watch it navigate itself safely around obstacles. Its first uses have been in construction, but it’s easy to imagine the impact it could have in civil society: in urban planning, in traffic management, in disaster recovery.

The same holds true for a device like the BLK ARC. The BLK ARC will bring autonomy to all robotics platforms, including for instance quadreped robotics.?

And we don’t stop here. The work that we are doing is part of our vision of enabling an autonomous, sustainable future. Exciting times ahead for sure.

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