Pipeline & Outdoor Plant Patrol

A shrinking workforce and retiring veteran technicians left too few people for inspection rounds.

Since August 2025, Spot patrols 5 routes and about 100 points, reading gauges and using thermal imaging.

Expected to save about 650 inspection hours per year.

Make inspections of electrical equipment and on-board train equipment, now done by inspectors, more advanced and efficient.

From April 2025 at the substation and depot near Motosumiyoshi Station, testing meter reading, thermal visual checks and ultrasonic gas-leak location.

Runs field and office work in parallel; aims for AI-based automatic entry into inspection sheets and optimized inspection intervals.

Filming for as-built drawings of repeatedly renovated facilities suffered blur and gaps on unstable ground, forcing reshoots.

At the JR Shin-Koiwa Station south-exit building project (Tekken–Takenaka JV), a camera-equipped Spot patrolled a set route to film footage turned into point clouds.

Filming time cut by up to about 30%; point clouds overlaid on BIM to check clashes with existing structures in advance.

Many units have run for 50+ years, so maintenance must get better at preventing age-related failures.

On May 24–28, 2026, with Tohoku Enterprise, one Spot patrolled the wastewater-treatment area autonomously, including at night, collecting equipment data.

Autonomy stability, data accuracy and anomaly detection are being evaluated toward a phased rollout decision.

Manual rounds for gauge reading and infrared thermography limited inspection frequency and consistency across a large substation.

X30 (precise inspection) and Lynx M20 (rapid patrol) at the 220 kV Xianggong substation in Linyi; IP67, −20 to 55 °C.

Inspection cycle cut by two-thirds; in the maker's utility deployments a round takes under 35 min (vs. ~2 h manual) with >98% meter recognition.

Thousands of inspection points on pumps, motors, and gas systems in a 200 mm fab; retrofitting fixed sensors was costly.

Spot with Levatas computer vision patrols autonomously, reading analog gauges and capturing thermal data; missions were set up in about half a day.

Operational data collected without facility upgrades feeds predictive maintenance, aiming to prevent failures that scrap wafers.

Thermal, leak, and safety checks on crush and refinery equipment relied on manual rounds; the 'Plant of the Future' program called for autonomous monitoring.

Pilot since mid-2024: 2–3 shifts on weekdays and all 3 on weekends, each ~2-hour mission with thermal, acoustic, and PTZ-camera inspections.

Detected a centrifuge air leak and bearing temperature swings (40–100 °C); AI checks for seed spills, fire extinguishers, and emergency doors.

Tent intake could take up to five clinicians, with infection exposure and PPE shortages.

From April 2020, Spot carried an iPad into ED triage tents so physicians could interview patients remotely.

Reduced nursing staff exposure; with MIT, measured skin temperature, pulse, breathing rate, and SpO2 from 2 m.

Manual tunnel inspections took 2–3 hours and up to 6 km of walking, with staff entering the tunnel.

With local partner Eastern Green Power and 3–4 months of safety assessment, a pilot runs in the 40 km tunnel.

Video and thermal imaging flag cracks and seepage with instant reports; 480 inspection hours/year saved (est.), wider rollout planned.

The plant is 1,000+ km from the nearest city; locating and visually inspecting equipment took up to 90 minutes.

Spot ("Spector") patrols autonomously with 30x zoom and thermal cameras, shutting down if gas is detected.

Images feed the FUSE digital twin and support regulatory electrical inspections, reducing entries into hazardous areas.

Welded bodies need a visual quality check in the weld shop.

At Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, opened in March 2025, the Spot quadruped inspects visual quality in the weld shop.

Plant-wide, assembly automation is about twice that of existing plants, with AGV parts supply and parking robots.