Robotics

by Anil Verma SDGM TS-HQ

Robotics : A streteagy for facing challange of speed with good quality

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Robotics- A Strategy for facing challenge of speed and good quality.

Technical paper by Anil Verma SDGM TS-HQ



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• Why Robot in Power Industry ?

• To meet following pressing needs



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Issues facing in Power Industry for speed, quality and safety:

• Unprecedented competition.• Demand for low cost power : High cost of power will lead to

social unrest besides industry sickness. It calls for low cost in engineering, production, execution at

construction site and maintenance of power plants. • Tight schedules for completion of power project.

• Enhanced Pressure to meet better standards of Quality and safety with the introduction of super critical technology.

• To carry out works (viz. related with welding, NDE, inspection in confined areas with speed).

• during maintenance, works are to be carried out with limitation of space in hazardous situations.

• Increasing cost of man power and other logistic issues.



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Status of Robotics for Power Industries in India

• Robotic have gained enough ground for processes in automobile industries, and met challenges of quality, cost and speed in shop.

• Robotics have not gained ground in power industry. Some effort for establishing use of Robotics undertaken.

• At construction sites, use of robots is invisible.

• Like wise for maintenance of power plants, use of robotics is not known.

• Huge market potential untapped.



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Solutions needed by power industries market:

• Types of solutions unique to power industries:

1. Standard solution.2. Customized solution for existing processes. • Viz. No need of spot welding in power industry.

3. Innovative solutions unique to power industries which can be developed with the help of organization like BHEL having domain knowledge of specific processes in the areas of shop, construction, maintenance there by cutting down delays, improving quality and enhancing safety.



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Demands of power industries for Robotics

• Simplified Maintenance: Robots are to be designed for easy maintenance and repair. These

robots should be based on modular design. These parts can be easily stocked by service providers for ready availability. Enough availability of qualified maintenance personnel for increased volume of business.

• Faster Implementation: providing advantage of pre-engineering. The parts come as pre-built

and pre-configured. Individual manipulators are installed with ease, with window formats, help menu. Robots are easily programmed as per need by user.

• Speed of response by vendors and better focused training of operation and maintenance staff at user end.

• Enabling for development of innovative solutions at customer end with sustained efforts.



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• Greater flexibility: Robot should have greater flexibility for use. Single robot to be

programmed to accommodate variety of part sizes, different materials and even different applications. Task changes are to be accomplished may be by change tooling viz. MIG, Arc welding, inspection etc only tool need to be changed.

Robots can also be mounted from different locations-ceiling, floor, walls, table with out changing performance.

• Low cost: Robots can be mass produced in India to drive down the cost. But at

present robots are imported directly from manufacturers abroad. Even maintenance personnel service is tapped from abroad.

This drives might have driven prices of robots high. Therefore it is not popular in power industries.

(contd.):…………………………..



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• With additional Safety Features pre-engineered:

Collision sensor is provided: This can detect a crash before or during collision of robot or its tool. It signals robot to stop before or during collision. Robot over load protection device, crash protection device, quick stop, robotic clutch are patented names of robot safety devises.

• Can work in Hazardous situations where human being can not enter viz. High heat zones, Radiation, inside tunnels.

(contd…). ……………………



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• Welding Robots Arc Welding, TIG Welding, MIG Welding on structural members • Bunkers, ducting.• Orbital welding on high pressure pipes. • Plasma cutting.• Inspection Robots for NDE, Visual Inspection etc. Generator, Boiler Tubes, Fuel

pipe and tank inspection during maintenance

• Shot blasting etc., of tanks, structural materials deburring.

• Epoxy Painting at site, of fuel tanks, DM storage tanks Volume of work is very high.

• Surface coating during boiler tubes during maintenance Robotic Material Handling in shop, stores : press feeding, pick and place, machine

handling and assembly. Palletizing: complete box palletizing lines box indexing, pallet stacking, box labeling

Pick and Place in stores at designated location, Site can have stores and later can be handed over to customers.

Robotic applications in Power Industry:



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Some case histories• Generator Inspection:• MAGIC : Miniature Air Gap Inspection Robot: Generator inspection

Visual Inspection• Stator wedge tightness measurement• Core insulation testing ELCID• Stator clearance measurement• Stator capacitance mapping• Retaining ring NDE• Visual Inspection providing clear view of generator components without

disassembly.• Cooling tower cleaning and inspection: under water cleaning robot

developed by m/s Panton McLeod Roxburghshire Scotland. • Cooling tower cleaning required no down time. • Condenser tube cleaning and inspection• Fuel Tank NDE and Inspection.• Surface coating on boiler tubes for mitigation of boiler tube leaks.

Use of Robots in Power Plants: :



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Indian Players in Industrial Robotics (reportedly as on date status):• Alstom has robotic subsidiary. (Trading and service)

• L & T ventured in for marketing robotics welding robots Automatic MIG, TIG welding

(Trading and service)• Precision Automation & Robotics India Limited (PARI) ………………………(Are manufacturers, developers of Robot

serving world market) • KUKA Robotics (India) Pvt. Ltd. (service providers, importers)• RHYTHM-soft Robotics and Automation software Pvt. Ltd.

(software service providers for robotics)• FANUC (India) (service providers, importers) Fanuc claims

having sold 180000 Robots.

• ABB (service providers)

Leading Firms on Robotics Active in India/ World wide



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• Nachi• Motoman• Panasonic• OTC• Mitsubushi• Comau• Deneb• Esab• Honda• Hyundai• Kawasaki

World Players in Industrial Robotics :



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• Lincoln• Miller• Shin Meiwa• Yamaha• Adept• Cloops• Hitachi Zosen• Alstom inspection robotic a joint spin off business of

Alstom and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich Switzerland

World Players in Industrial Robotics (Contd):



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• Market for old Robots is also flourishing with guarantee

and after sales service. • New and used robots are available for SALE & BUY on

line. Some firms dealing this business are:• Industrial Robot Supply Inc. USA

• Robotworx Ohio USA: 15 years experience. Sells used robots with guarantee. (Ref-1)

• And many others….Information freely available on web.

Used robot trading organizations in World:



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Reasons for not going for robotic applications

• Robotics were costly options.• No major players in India for Robotics. • Power Plant Business progressed at slow pace.• Robotics is not popular in Indian Industries due to easy availability of skilled

labour. Lack of trained man power.• Lesser pressure on schedule. • Financial resources for projects were through government bodies, having

built in delays.• Less international competition.• Inaccessible technology of robotics: Business Results of foreign companies

were well known but their production methods/ technology was full of secrecy; lesser known.

• Vendor reluctance to offer robots at construction site

• However, it may not be true any more.



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Strategy for meeting low cost competition :

• Well engineered Robot will lower cost of process, increase speed and less rejections.

• BHEL has already domain knowledge in welding, NDE plasma cutting used in power plant, this will place BHEL in superior position. Through cost analysis, choice of Robot can be worked out.

• Cost of Robots have declined, and there is appreciable growth of Robot companies. Higher capacity of robots are available.

• Robot is a tool, which can be put to several functions with change of arm tooling and software. Separate software service provider firm exists for consultancy.

• Welding application should start first followed by Inspection Robotics, visual NDE etc., then other applications, where down time can be reduced.



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Robotics and BHEL

• BHEL has excellence center on Robotics in Corporate R & D. Executed some jobs on Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS) file is hyper linked. Some BHEL Units have already some robotic hands for limited applications.

• Vendors are approaching for Robotic applications.

• BHEL Trichy R & D is involved in establishing use of Robots.