Smart Boiler Servicing Robot (REF:C-0032)
E&M InnoPortal Trial Project Ref. No.:

Overview

Hospitals utilise large steam boilers for the purpose of heating, laundry and disinfection. Boiler plays an important role in the disinfection and sterilization process to kill bacteria, viruses and microorganisms in surgical tools and healthcare linen. Regular inspection and maintenance of the boiler is therefore essential to ensure the proper operation of the system.

To uphold the performance of the steam boilers, regular cleaning of fire tubes is necessary to remove deposits build-up thereby enhancing heat transfer and reducing fuel consumption as well as preventing metal surfaces from corrosion.

The first-ever all-in-one robotic system leverages computer vision for tube positioning and tube cleaning as well as artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for flaw identification and tube condition assessment. The system not only enhances maintenance efficiency and safety but also optimises maintenance strategies to maximise boiler uptime.

Problem Addressed

The hospital steam boiler systems operate around the clock to meet the sterilising and catering needs of the hospital. The existing cleaning procedure involves considerable manual handling operations potentially leading to repetitive muscle strain injuries and dust inhalation. In addition, the health condition of the fire tubes could not be readily validated, making it challenging to make informed decisions for urgent repairs. Therefore an intelligent robotic cleaning and inspection solution with improved efficiency and safety is desired.
Innovation

This invention uniquely integrates several key technologies to perform auto-tube cleaning and flaw detection, which not only optimises maintenance strategies for maximising boiler uptime but also makes Hong Kong a new paradigm for smart maintenance.

Collaborative Robotic Arm (Cobot) is adopted to execute mundane, repetitive and labor-intensive tasks such as tube cleaning and probe insertion for flaw detection. The system utilises auto push-pull cleaning technology powered by pneumatics to scrub deposits inside the fire tube without manual pushing or pulling. Once the cleaning is completed, it will then vacuum the debris.

Computer Vision & Pattern Recognition analyses images captured from cameras to position the robotic arm accurately in line with the plane of the fire tube, to identify the tube location and size for correct tools selection as well as tracking of robotic arm movement. It enables AI computer vision to ensure accurate matching of the cleaning brush to the tube.

Remote Field Testing, a non-destructive technique, is employed for internal flaw detection in tubes. AI pattern recognition expedites flaw identification and identifies fire tubes at higher risk in a bid to achieve predictive maintenance.
Key Benefits
  • Maximises boiler system uptime and efficiency
  • Enhances maintenance efficiency
  • Improves work safety by eliminating tasks involving working at height, manual cleaning and inspection.
  • Achieves cost efficiency as it can be applied to various types of boilers in different hospitals
Patent and Award
  • Intellectual Property Department, Short-term Patent: HK30042892
  • International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva 2022 (Gold Medal)
  • The HKIE Innovation Award – Grand Prize (Young Member Group) 2022
Project Reference

Butterfly Beach Laundry