New Robotic Technology Demonstrated at N.Y. Power Authority's Niagara Power Plant

Contact:
Rock Brynner
914-681-6455
Rock.Brynner@nypa.gov


July 17, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


George F. Wong, senior engineer, New York Power Authority (NYPA), and Maria Guimaraes, project manager, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), with advanced robotic equipment that was demonstrated at NYPA’s Niagara Hydroelectric Power Plant on July 17. The “concrete crawler” was designed and built by International Climbing Machines of Ithaca, N.Y. and adapted by EPRI to evaluate concrete walls at power generating plants to ensure their structural integrity.

Innovative concrete inspection equipment known as a “robotic crawler” was demonstrated on July 17 at the New York Power Authority’s Niagara Hydroelectric Power Plant.  The equipment, adapted for use by the Electric Power Research Institute, was invented and designed by Sam Maggio of International Climbing Machines of Ithaca, N.Y. The mobile device uses sound waves to evaluate the condition of concrete structures.
Photo Credit:  NYPA

LEWISTON — The New York Power Authority’s Niagara Hydroelectric Power Plant served as the venue on Wednesday for the demonstration of robotic equipment whose widespread utility application would contribute to the power industry’s efforts to advance the operational performance and longevity of generating facilities. 
The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), in collaboration with NYPA, American Electric Power, Exelon, the Southwest Research Institute, International Climbing Machines (ICM), the University of Texas at Austin and Rutgers University, are demonstrating the capabilities of advanced inspection techniques of concrete structures, including the deployment of a robotic crawler.
The demonstration, which took place along the vertical exterior of the main generating facility at the Niagara plant, is part of broader research EPRI is conducting on concrete aging, a critical issue at generating plants across the country. EPRI, a nonprofit organization funded by the electric utility industry, brings together combined resources from U.S. utilities to conduct research and development in support of efficient generation, delivery and use of electricity for the benefit of the public.
NYPA engineers and researchers from each of the participating organizations are evaluating the performance of the robotic crawler, which incorporates sound wave technologies in the evaluation of concrete conditions. The tests enabled EPRI to assess various technical aspects of the crawler in a real-world application and evaluate the commercial viability of the technology.
“The New York Power Authority is pleased that EPRI and its collaborators are demonstrating the robotic crawler at our Niagara plant,” said George F. Wong, senior civil engineer, NYPA. “When this technology has been perfected, it will eliminate the need for potentially dangerous and difficult rappelling and scaffolding in the performance of routine structural evaluations.”
Instead of designing and building a new robot, the EPRI team reviewed commercially available devices. The device best-suited to the job was determined to be the robotic crawler, roughly the size of an electric lawnmower, designed by ICM, which is an  Ithaca, N.Y., company. 
The crawler, which is controlled remotely, adheres to vertical surfaces using vacuum suction and can carry up to 44 pounds. It applies on-board systems, including simultaneous localization and mapping technology and advanced instrumentation developed for concrete applications, to conduct automated, high-precision inspections and to capture computer-encoded data and images for maintenance decision-making.
“We are in the initial phase of testing, but this device shows great potential for advancing the industry’s concrete inspection process,” said Maria Guimaraes, an EPRI project manager who directs the research project. “By the end of the year we’d like the data that can be collected by this robot to provide a real-time, accurate assessment of the conditions and integrity of concrete.”
The concrete crawler is designed to support and extend long-term operation of generating assets, allowing safe, in-depth inspection of such large structures as cooling towers, hydro dams, and reactor containments. Its payload of advanced instrumentation will provide unprecedented abilities to examine the interior of concrete structures to locate voids, cracks, rebar corrosion, and other internal defects. Updates on the crawler can be found at: www.epri.com.

NOTE TO EDITORS:
VIDEO and AUDIO:
Professional, broadcast-quality video footage with audio, including interviews with key personnel and B-roll of robotic crawler during July 17, 2013 demonstration can be accessed at www.nypa.csldigital.net.  File plays on Quick Time Movie and is about 185 MB.
Credit:  New York Power Authority
TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO:
Interviews with Key Personnel on NYPA and EPRI Demonstration of Robotic Crawler
George Wong
Senior Civil Engineer II
New York Power Authority
Clip1
In the traditional method we have to send inspectors up on swing stages or scaffolding. We even had people repelling off the dam once to do the inspection. By using a robot we are able to avoid that and provide a safer way of doing it and also maybe a more cost-effective way. We don't have to provide all of that scaffolding and access equipment. So the benefit to NYPA is the quicker inspection, less downtime of our asset, and also a more cost-effective way of doing the inspection.
Clip 2
This is a team effort between EPRI and NYPA. We've been collaborating on concrete initiative for the past year. And this is one of those initiatives to try to improve our inspection process. So, we're working with EPRI and EPRI has brought in their colleagues from universities and private companies to meet that goal of trying to get a better inspection method.
Maria Guimaraes
Project Manager
EPRI
Clip 3
The idea here is have a vehicle, a vehicle that can climb a vertical concrete structure. Now to that vehicle we need to add different sensing techniques that could detect damaged concrete. Damaged concrete could be damage of corrosion of the reinforcement, it could be water seeping through it, it could be a delamination, so the way of sensing is different. So what we are doing today is bringing first the vehicle and then different techniques that we can interchange and put them in the vehicle.

About NYPA
NYPA is the nation's largest state public power organization, through the operation of its 16 generating facilities and more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines. NYPA uses no tax money or state credit. It finances its operations through the sale of bonds and revenues earned in large part through sales of electricity. More than 70 percent of the electricity NYPA produces is clean renewable hydropower. Follow @NYPAenergy on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, WordPress, YouTube, and LinkedIn.