On a large and remote construction site in Shetland, where the team is battling the elements, covering large distances every day, the Trimble and Boston Dynamics integrated robot solution has become man’s newest four-legged friend.
BAM Nuttall has successfully trialled the integrated Trimble X7 laser scanner with Boston Dynamics’ Spot® robot in a remote construction setting – utilising a private stand-alone 5G network for remote control – in the first use case of its kind.
Enlisting Spot as the newest member of the site team, the four-legged robot has used specially adapted 3D laser scanning equipment to collect data and create site records.
Spot and the Trimble X7 payload were controlled remotely using a private 5G communications network covering the 55,176 m2 site, marking the robot’s first 5G deployment in the U.K.
Given the harsh weather conditions, challenging terrain, and isolated location, remote operation was critical to the trial’s success, as it proved the robot could take on days of manual surveying work and operate in areas and conditions hazardous to people – without operators needing to be on site or even travel to the remote island at all.
Spot has been deployed as part of a 5G testbed funded by Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
BAM Nuttall led a consortium, with Attocore and BRE, to not only create a private 5G stand-alone network on a remote construction site in Shetland – but to employ several new technologies and review their benefits for construction.
BAM Nuttall also worked closely with the Trimble and Boston Dynamics alliance to ensure the best application for the industry.
