One of the major innovations premiering at The Precast Show 2023 (February 23-25, Columbus, Ohio) is a pinpoint placement machine engineered to succeed mix delivery by crane and bucket, gantry devices or specialized vehicles in precast, prestressed concrete production, while eliminating most of the labor typically required along formwork or casting beds.
The EquipPro Spider Bot couples artificial intelligence and 3D computer vision tools with concrete pumping. The rubberized track- or rail-mounted machine is configured and programmed to read formwork patterns and placement depths directly from the electronic drawing details. With remote control devices in hand, operators merely oversee the placing sequence and take corrective action as required.
EquipPro engineers emphasize these Spider Bot features and benefits:
- Labor and energy savings via artificial intelligence in a practical application of 3D technology
- Measurable safety improvements on the formwork attributable to robotics
- Residual waste concrete reduction
- Improvement in mix consistency and overall finishability on casting beds
- Programmable boom navigation for all sizes of formwork
- Meticulous concrete mix placement and measurement
“While not yet widely accepted in large scale practice due to a number of real-world shortcomings, 3D concrete printing provides precast and prestress producers reason to ponder future possibilities for artificial intelligence applied to mix placement,” EquipPro notes. “Worker safety, plant productivity, lower unit costs and increasing quality all need to be addressed in precast, prestressed concrete. Providing competitive products or structures will be realized in the near term by robotizing certain aspects of fabrication. Longer term, application of full artificial intelligence will be required to keep precast, prestressed concrete competitive with alternative products.” — EquipPro Distributors LLC, New Braunfels, Texas, 877/477-5268, 830/743-8738; www.EquipPro.com; Precast Show Booth #555
