Industrial inspection robots need to know your site.
With the right sensors and software, an inspection robot can read a gauge. It still cannot know which gauge it is, where to stand or what changed on site last week. That is site data.
- Scaffold logged · bay 2 · permit linked
- Viewpoint 14 for PT-2041 blocked
- Viewpoint 14 moved · route updated
- Site model v8 → v9
- Robot A and robot B on v9
What an industrial inspection robot is.
An industrial inspection robot carries sensors around a plant to check equipment that people would otherwise check on foot. It usually runs a fixed round, many times a week, and reports what it found. These are the main types.
Legged robots
Four-legged robots walk stairs, gratings and uneven floors, so they suit plants built for people. ANYmal X from ANYbotics is approved under IECEx and ATEX for Zone 1 explosive atmospheres.
Wheeled and tracked robots
Ground robots on wheels or tracks carry cameras and sensors on a mast or arm. Some, such as ExRobotics' ExR-2, are built for Zone 1 hazardous areas.
Crawlers
Crawlers climb along assets such as boiler walls, tanks and pipes. Gecko Robotics' crawlers use ultrasonic probes to measure wall thickness.
Drones
Drones inspect what is high up or spread out: flare stacks, roofs, solar parks and power lines.
With inspection software set up or trained for each gauge, robots read analogue gauges, level glasses and valve positions from camera images.
Thermal cameras, usually part of an inspection payload, show hot bearings, motors and electrical connections.
Acoustic sensors and imagers, often an add-on, pick up gas leaks and changes in how machines sound.
Optional gas detectors measure gases such as methane, carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulphide.
Robots take photos, and some capture 3D point clouds. Inspection software compares them with earlier rounds to show changes.
Most of these are add-ons or software options, not standard features. Gas sensing, for example, is optional on ANYmal X and an option on Taurob's Inspector.
The robot reads the gauge. The site says which one.
A well-equipped inspection robot sees a lot. With the right payloads and software it reads gauges and measures heat, sound or gas. What it does not bring is knowledge of your plant.
What the robot brings
- Walks or drives the site and avoids obstacles
- Reads gauges, with inspection software
- Measures heat, sound or gas, with the right payloads
- Finds another route when one is blocked (some robots)
- Sends readings back after each round
What the site has to give it
- Which tag each gauge, valve and pump has
- Where to stand and point the camera for each one
- The normal range for each reading
- Routes, doors, stairs and restricted areas
- Hazardous zones, permits and what changed this week
A reading is only useful when it is attached to the right asset, taken from the same place every time and compared with the right limits.
Site knowledge is set up by hand, per robot.
Robot makers give operators good tools to set up inspection rounds. The work happens inside each maker's own software, robot by robot.
Record the route
The route is usually taught by driving the robot. Boston Dynamics' mission recorder for Spot has the operator drive the robot along the path while it records, starting from a fiducial marker posted on site. ANYbotics' Field Operator app creates waypoints while an operator guides ANYmal in manual mode.
Add the inspection points
At each stop someone defines what to capture: a photo, a thermal image, a gauge reading or a sound recording. On Spot these are Autowalk actions, which can be extended over several recording sessions.
Link readings to assets
The robot does not know that a gauge is PT-2041 unless someone tells it. Tags, names and normal ranges are entered per inspection point, in the robot maker's software.
Do it again
A second robot from another maker means repeating the same work in another tool. When the site changes, missions have to be checked again. ANYbotics' own release notes advise validating missions after updates, especially in narrow corridors.
The result: the knowledge of your site ends up spread across robot apps, recorded routes and spreadsheets. It works for one robot on a stable site. It gets hard with two robot makers, several sites or a plant that changes every week.
Six things an inspection robot needs.
None of these depend on which robot you use. Built once and kept current, they can serve every robot on the site.
Asset register with locations
Every asset the robot inspects, with its tag, type and position in 3D, matched to your P&IDs and maintenance system. This is what turns a photo of a gauge into a reading for PT-2041.
PT-2041 · pressure transmitter line 12 · bay 2 · z 1.4 m range 4-6 bar · CMMS ref linked
Viewpoints
For each asset, where the robot should stand and at what angle it should point its camera or sensor. A good viewpoint gives the same image every round, which makes trends comparable.
viewpoint 14 · PT-2041 stand x 232 y 188 · camera 35° zoom 3x · thermal off
Routes and access
Walkable areas, stairs, doors, gratings and the shortest safe order of stops. Built from CAD, BIM or a lidar scan, so it exists before the robot does its first walk.
round 3 · 14 stops stairs 2 · doors 3 length 640 m · dock B
Hazardous and restricted areas
Where explosive atmospheres may occur, as classified under Directive 1999/92/EC, plus areas closed to robots. Only Ex-certified robots belong in a Zone 1 area.
separator area · Zone 1 Ex robots only robot B · not certified → excluded
Temporary changes
Scaffolding, hot work, maintenance and blocked walkways. These change weekly and are usually known from permits before anyone tells the robot.
scaffold · bay 2 · 28 Oct to 15 Nov viewpoint 14 blocked → moved, route updated
History per asset
Every reading stored against the asset, not the mission, so a trend survives a new route, a new robot or a new robot maker.
PT-2041 · 41 readings last 5.1 bar · trend stable source · robot A, robot B
Every industry makes it harder differently.
Oil and gas
Offshore platforms and onshore plants with Zone 1 and Zone 2 areas, many decks and frequent maintenance work.
Chemicals
Dense pipework, many similar valves and strict permit systems.
Power and utilities
Substations and power plants where the robot must keep clear of live equipment.
Water and wastewater
Spread-out sites with tanks, pumps and outdoor routes that change with weather.
Mining and metals
Conveyors, crushers and dusty, changing ground.
One current model of your site.
Kaiinos does not make robots. We build and maintain the site data your robots work from.
Site model built from your data
We build the model from CAD, BIM (IFC), lidar point clouds and drone surveys, or capture the site first. It holds the layout, the assets and the zones.
Asset register in 3D
Your asset tags placed in the model and linked to your maintenance data, ready to turn into inspection points.
Kept current
Changes on site, such as scaffolding, new equipment or a closed walkway, become a new version of the model with a change history.
One model, more than one robot
The model is available through APIs and standard formats, so the site work is done once rather than once per robot maker.
Test rounds before the robot arrives
Run the round in a simulation of your real site to check routes, clearances and viewpoints first.
Formats your team already uses
CAD (DWG, DXF), BIM (IFC), lidar (LAS, LAZ) and GeoTIFF in. OpenUSD scenes out for NVIDIA Isaac Sim, plus REST APIs.
Start with one round.
Prove it on one area of one site, then add rounds, robots and sites.
Pick one area and one round
For example one process unit and its weekly round, with the robot you already use or plan to use.
Build the site model
We build the model and asset register from your drawings and scans, or survey the area.
Set up the round
Inspection points come from the asset register, not from walking the robot around by hand.
Run, change, update
Your robot runs the round. When the site changes, we update the model and the round follows.
Frequently asked questions
What is an industrial inspection robot?
A robot that carries cameras and sensors around an industrial site to check equipment. Depending on its configuration it reads gauges, takes thermal images, listens for leaks or measures gas, usually on a fixed round, and sends the results to the people who maintain the plant.
Which robots are used for industrial inspection?
Legged robots such as Boston Dynamics Spot and ANYbotics ANYmal, wheeled and tracked ground robots, crawlers for tanks, boilers and pipes, and drones for high or spread-out assets.
Can inspection robots work in explosive atmospheres?
Only if they are certified for it. ANYbotics states that ANYmal X is approved under IECEx and ATEX for Zone 1. Robots without that certification must be kept out of classified areas, so the robot needs to know where those areas are.
Can an inspection robot read an analogue gauge?
Yes, with inspection software set up for it. Boston Dynamics does this in its Orbit software for Spot, and ANYbotics states that ANYmal identifies the value once trained on an instrument type. The robot still needs to know which gauge it is, where to stand to read it and what the normal range is.
Does Kaiinos make inspection robots?
No. Kaiinos builds and maintains the site data: the model, the asset register, the zones and the changes. You keep the robot and the robot maker's software.
What happens when the plant changes?
The change is recorded in the site model as a new version. Routes and viewpoints that depend on it can then be updated, rather than rediscovered when a robot fails a round.
The same site, other robots.
Your robot knows how to inspect. We teach it your site.
Tell us which site, which robot and which round.
Start a pilothello@kaiinos.ai