Robotics Aerial Inspection & Repair

GE Research is transforming the way we manage machines. Aerial inspection robotics is a subset of field service robotics that uses intelligent robotic inspection systems to extend and augment the capabilities of the people who are charged with caring for our industrial assets.

This makes our engineers and technicians dramatically safer and more effective. By connecting robotic aerial inspection and the Digital Twin, we are giving our industrial infrastructure a new voice, simplifying how we understand and manage this vital part of our digital-physical world.

Facility structure inspection products provide an unmanned robotic system to aid in short-range, precise inspection of vertical industrial structures including: flare stacks, piping, support structures, heat exchangers, vessels, and liquid holding tanks at oil refineries; wind towers; and transmission towers.

Product Showcase: Euclid

Euclid is an autonomous aerial solution that automates the 3D model reconstruction and inspection process thus allowing an inspector to perform targeted, 3D aerial inspection.

This robotic inspection system automates the inspection process by allowing the operator to remotely generate inspection plans for assets. These plans are automatically converted into missions for our aerial inspection robot to collect the relevant data and perform the insightful analytics. The system also features automated machine-learning, tagging of the data, uploading to the cloud, and generating inspection reports.

The Euclid and facility structure inspection work was the catalyst to create Avitas Systems, an entity originated at GE Research, now incubated within GE Ventures, that leverages robotics, autonomy, and sensors of various kinds to provide customers with rapid, high quality, and persistent assessment of the integrity of their industrial assets.