US Navy Explores AI-Powered Lizard-Like Robots Potential To Prevent Catastrophes

The U.S. Navy has disclosed that AI-enabled lizard-like robots might transform the armed forces. Doug Philippine, the co-founder of Snowpoint Ventures, shared his expectations for the technology in an exclusive conversation with Fox News.

The critical thing in the future in dealing with the dangers that we perceive throughout the globe is that we need to be prepared to make decisions incredibly quickly and take action about it in as little time as possible, Philippine told Fox News. In his view, one of the more intriguing potentials is the lizard-like robot which Gecko Robotics is working on.

The company, Philippine explained, has invented robots that can climb and scale the infrastructure just like a gecko. With advanced A.I. algorithms, they can detect where things can fail, he went on. This helps in intelligent maintenance.

Wall-climbing lizard robots come to the rescue.
According to Gecko Robotics, wall-climbing robots are utilized for non-destructive testing examinations of pipelines, pressure vessels, tanks, boilers, and more. The robots inspect various forms of deterioration, pitting, or wall thickness using designed sensor payloads.

The website for Gecko says that the robots gather 1,000 times more details with constant data capture at a speed averaging 10x faster than prior methods. They explained that the robots, using specially designed sensor payloads, can measure wall thickness, pitting, and numerous other kinds of degradation.

The firm has a select range of these robots, including the well-designed TOKA series. The TOKA robots are equipped with magnetic wheels to examine an array of carbon steel equipment precisely, from storage tanks to power boilers and container vessels. The robots are rigorously tested to work in harsh conditions, preparing them for deployment anytime and anywhere, supported by skilled operators.

Gecko has the MONARCH series of robots. These come with modular and compact payloads that can navigate complicated geometries and accumulate new data layers. MONARCH is also appropriate for inspecting and informing on the health of a new class of assets, like dying concrete structures, including 92 nuclear plants, 343,000 concrete bridges, and 1,450 hydropower plants in the U.S.

Smarter maintenance with lizard-bots

The Navy, Phillippone explained to Fox, could significantly benefit from Gecko as it would permit targeted maintenance instead of replacing chunks that might not even need repair. In 2023, around March, the Navy approved using unique wall-climbing robots and AI-guided software platforms on the initial amphibious assault vessel and an extra destroyer from the Arleigh Burke class.

The Navy hopes this will help create digital models of the vessels, lowering the time required in the maintenance cycle and keeping vessels from being driven out of service for drydock.

Philippine emphasized that while devices are essential, humans must continue to make decisions. The technology should help humans make decisions, not on their behalf, Philippine informed Fox News.

Reference: Interesting Engineering

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