Customer: Huisman
During our project, we will be working for a company called Huisman Equipment B.V. This company was founded in 1929 and specialises in building large cranes, pipe-laying equipment, drilling equipment, winches, vessel designs and other special projects. What makes them special is that they want to challenge their business environment by using innovative technologies, such as automated systems and robots.
Problem description
Huisman has asked to design a robotic solution for changing the pads on the tracks of a tensioner. These pads are necessary to clamp and guide the pipe to the ocean floor. The pads depend on the thickness of the pipe and need to be changed when laying a different kind of pipe. Currently the changing of the pads, which can weigh up to 40 kilos each, needs to be done manually in the harbour. This may cost the company several hundred thousand euros. Therefore, Huisman has asked to come up with a solution that allows the pads to be changed offshore by an autonomous robot called PaCbot, which stands for Pad-Changing robot.
Our Solution
We are building a Robotic Arm with a gripper that can detach the pads from the tensioners and put them in the storage baskets. The arms will move by two tracks that will be attached to the tower. The remaining challenges lie in making the concept offshore proof and optimizing the clearances. Next to that we will be busy by making a working simulation and programming the whole robot.
