IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - December 2018 - 9

from the guest editors

Robotic
Novel
Techniques
Technologies
to Solve
for Predictive
Space-Exploration
Maintenance
of Assets
Problems
and Infrastructure
By Matteo
Name name,
Fumagalli
affliation;
and Enrico Simett
Name name, affliation;

C

ontemporary society depends
significantly on the continuous,
undisrupted functioning of the
infrastructure system that pro-
vides us with energy, means of transport,
and the extraction and delivery of raw
materials as well as the provision of food
and goods. However, infrastructures are
ageing, and a major concern of gov-
ernments worldwide is, how can we face
this problem? A tragic example of in-
frastructure failure is represented by the
collapse of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa,
Italy (Figure 1), which has caused massive
disruption in the transportation system
and had a serious economic impact on
the whole city. Power generation, water,
gas, and electrical supply installations
represent other key assets that must
remain operational 24/7 and upon which
our society depends.
Predictive maintenance is consid-
ered the most suitable approach to
ensure the healthy functioning of in-
frastructure because it allows for pre-
ventative detection and avoidance of
infrastructure breakdowns and their
consequences for governments and
societies. However, predictive mainte-
nance often implies high costs in addi-
tion to safety-related issues because it
requires regular inspection, generally
deploying human operators in harsh
and difficult-to-reach environments.
To be both financially and functionally
sustainable, infrastructure owners-as
well as the industries operating and ser-
vicing them-are investigating new
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MRA.2018.2870987
Date of publication: 12 December 2018

ways to automate inspection and main-
tenance procedures.
Multiple industries are already ad-
opting robots as part of their business
models. Robots such as unmanned aeri-
al vehicles (UAVs), also known as
drones, are widely used to support infra-
structure inspection operations. For
example, the energy sector makes
extensive use of aerial robots to inspect
power lines, wind turbines, and gas
pipelines, to mention just a few of the
burgeoning number of business oppor-
tunities arising with the development of
these new technologies. According to
Deloitte, over 28% of the US$13 billion
market for drones represents infrastruc-
ture inspection.
In terms of drones' underwater
counterparts, the number of activities
has grown unabated for years and
mainly involve energy, aquaculture, and
deep-sea resources, especially for oil
and gas. The latest autonomous under-
water vehicle (AUV) market report by
Douglas-Westwood shows how global
AUV demand will grow 37% over the
2018-2022 period; in particular, the
commercial sector will see the largest
growth (74%) as AUVs continue to be
adopted in oil and gas operations. Spe-
cifically, persistent AUVs (i.e., AUVs
hosted in subsea infrastructures) will
allow for more cost-effective inspec-
tions and interventions of subsea in-
frastructure than remotely operated
vehicles (ROVs) or surface vessels car-
rying out the work.
However, despite the disrupting
innovation introduced by both aerial
and underwater robotic technologies,

there are still scientific and technical
limitations to overcome before human
intervention is fully dismissed and the
costs and effectiveness of operating
these technologies become sustainable.
The availability of robotic platforms
capable of interacting with the environ-
ment will represent a breakthrough in
how these operations are carried out
and lead to the development of new
business models. Cleaning and surface
treatment, painting, nondestructive
inspection by contact, sample picking,
deployment of sensors, dismantling and
disassembly operations, and construc-
tion works are only a few of the tasks
that will be enabled by integrating
advanced manipulation capabilities into
floating-base technologies.
Motivated by the need of autono-
mous manipulation capabilities in very
harsh and demanding environments,
the main focus of this IEEE Robotics
and Automation Magazine special issue
is to provide an up-to-date snapshot of
the results and novel advanced solutions
for floating manipulation, from the
point of view of both aerial and under-
water fields.
Eight articles, divided into three
main clusters, constitute this special
issue. The first cluster of two articles
introduces the current state of the art
at the edge between scientific break-
through and industrial applications in
the field of aerial and underwater
manipulation. The articles showcase the
advances of the two technologies, with
application to remote industrial inspec-
tion, and they highlight the challenges
occurring when floating manipulation

December 2018

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IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE

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IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - December 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - December 2018
