HOLLUND INDUSTRIAL MARINE INC. www.hollundindustrial.com
Largest Robot Arm with 9DOF! Hollund Industrial Marine Inc. plans to introduce a robot arm that can lift a 2.5- ton payload and carry out precision operations under water. The 120-foot arm is part of a patented remote manipulator system called “TigerLynk.” Hollund says that it will set a new standard for remotely operating heavy equipment in offshore industries, including energy, construction, mining, forestry and flood emergency response. TigerLynk’s arm is a remotely controlled payload-managing device with nine degrees of freedom. It’s comprised of five segments, or booms, connected by successive joints. Linear hydraulic actuators drive the joints and articulate the arm. Made of reinforced steel, the booms vary in length and are roughly 2 feet in diameter. The arm is mounted on a platform from which it can be deployed under water and controlled by the operator. It’s controlled using interfaces with the machine’s industrial computer system. Two hand controllers (joysticks) are used to work the arm. The system software detects the command inputs and calculates which joints to move, in which direction and how fast to move them and the angle at which they must be moved. The manipulator’s control system also provides a continuous display of the arm’s movement and tool functions for the operator via monitors and panels in the main console. A high-definition, closed-circuit television camera is mounted on the arm’s end joint, and the end effector tool is in constant wide-angle view. This can all be viewed on a high-definition monitor. Halogen lighting and purge systems illuminate the underwater terrain and clear debris from the field of view; this enables the operator to work safely and effectively even in the most turbid conditions. Interchangeable tools mounted on the arm’s last joint allow multiple operations to be performed by the same system. Among the tools being offered are a grapple, a suction dredge, a clamshell rake, a grout applicator and a vibrator used in mining. TigerLynk is the first system proven capable of harvesting submerged tropical forests. In 2000, a prototype was introduced at Brazil’s Tucurui Reservoir. The prototype’s 60-foot arm featured a hydraulic saw bar that could find and cut trees up to a 4-foot diameter without diver assistance. Hollund has teamed with Beaver Manufacturing of Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, to produce the TigerLynk alpha system—the AR120, which is now in Phase I development. This project is being led by Hollund vice president, Dr. Claus Wagner-Bartak, who also coordinated the research and development of the NASA robot arm, CanadArm.
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