A power plant was demolished in Oxfordshire on July 17. But this demolition was rather unusual. After the tragic death of four workers at a site organized for the demolition of this power plant at the beginning of the year, the site was deemed too dangerous to carry out the demolition in the usual way (and even the bodies of the victims were forbidden to search in the current situation). This led to the fact that I had to turn to a team of robots.
The tragic accident happened in February this year when the boiler house of a power plant about to be demolished partly collapsed. In light of the danger, the workers were evacuated. It was decided to continue the project with the use of robots.
The plan for the use of robots at the demolition site was developed over the following months. Several small machines weighing about 40 kg were connected to the project. Two robots were provided by the Irish company Reamda, known for Robot Reacher and R-Evolve robots, which were used to survey the site, survey the object and place charges. Six pillars supporting the structures were studied using a 3D laser scanner. Based on the data obtained, Alford Technologies created models of columns on which the demolition plan was tested.
After the plan was drawn up, three different types of explosive devices were planted. Reamda says its Reacher robot is the industry’s first remote-controlled robot capable of placing charges at just the right angle than other hardware.
Getting the charges right on the first try is very important, as the strong magnets that hold them in place make it difficult to reposition them without damaging the device.
To lift tiny robots to a height where it was needed, large remote-controlled vehicles of the British Department of Defense were used.
Elsewhere on the site, Swedish remote-controlled vehicles Brokk were working. They were used to install heavy charges. These machines do not have cameras, so additional robots were required to control them.
Robotic Demolition Went Without Any Major Problems. AT 6 am on July 17, Everything Was Quickly and Efficiently Demolished. After That, IT Became Possible for People to Access The Site and Search for the Bodies of Workers Who Died in February).
