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Image: Nio RoboticsAru
Shape-shifting robot that laser-strips and repaints steel inside penstocks, ship hulls and tanks
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How it works on your site
Nio Robotics, based in Toulouse, builds Aru, a modular robot that reshapes itself into a rover on magnetic feet, a snake, a quadruped or a tripod to work inside steel structures such as hydro penstocks, ship compartments and chemical tanks. On site it strips corrosion and old coatings with a laser, then applies the new protective coat by airless spray; a welding payload is in development.
Surface Preparation and Cleaning
Aru carries a laser decoating payload to the steel and strips corrosion and old coatings by laser ablation, with no grit and no blasting. On vertical or overhead walls it holds on with magnetic feet, so the crew builds no scaffolding to reach the surface.
Topcoat Application (One or Two Coats)
After decoating, the wrist payload swaps to an airless sprayer in minutes and Aru applies the protective coating in place. The same robot runs the strip and recoat cycle without leaving the structure.
Image: Nio Robotics
Will it work on your site
- Surface
- Steel: vertical and overhead walls, pipe interiors, flow-control gates and compartment walls.
- Site preparation
- No scaffolding to reach vertical or overhead steel. The maker says laser decoating cuts containment to a minimum and its payloads absorb the waste.
- Navigation
- Four body modes: rover on magnetic feet for vertical steel, snake for hatches over 450 mm and 40 cm pipes with 90° bends, quadruped for stairs and ladders, tripod as a stable work base.
- Environment
- Confined steel spaces: hydro penstocks and flow-control gates, ship hulls in new build and repair, chemical tanks, offshore structures and refinery vessels, including lead or asbestos coatings.
- Generation
- Developed under the maker's former name, Nimble One, with Aru in development by 2022. Patent EP4401926 covers the modular body.
- Other capabilities
- Interchangeable wrist payloads that swap in minutes: laser decoating and airless painting (live), welding (in development), plus NDT probes and vision to survey the steel before and after work. The tripod mode reaches with a 15 kg tool.
As the maker states it.
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