How do you imagine the process of building a large ship? We are talking about a handcrafted process, because each ship is a unique work. There are hundreds Of “blocks” – which are a bit like the rectangular bricks of a construction to be assembled together – and thousands of cables, pipes and other parts to be fitted inside.
Precisely for this reason, in one of the largest shipyards in the world, that of Fincantieri in Monfalcone, the workforce is supported by artificial intelligence, robotics, smart things, software and sensors. These are various solutions implemented to create a new way of managing work on construction sites, moving from the good old labour to the so-called “Head of the Opera”.
The welding drone
An interesting technological solution is already used in one of the early stages of the construction of the large ship: for the assembly of the pieces of sheet metal that make up a block.
Welding of a block completed, a drone from above takes high-resolution photos of the welded joints.
A artificial intelligence algorithm then analyzes the shots and identifies any suspicious points by comparing the photos with a reference profile. In this way, technology can provide useful support for the delicate work of checking the welds.
Exoskeletons for workers and automated rovers
The individual blocks then need to be set up with the ducts for air conditioning, electrical and hydraulic systems, and it is a long and demanding job. For this reason, the workers will be able to resort to the use of exoskeletons to best support your back, legs or arms (you can choose the most suitable exoskeleton based on the type of work you are going to do). These supports external They help reduce the load on the joints and prevent musculoskeletal problems.
There are so many materials to assemble, and having them all at hand is ideal. For this reason, some tools are used automatic roverssmall robots on wheels that transport part of the materials to the work areas without interfering with the activities in progress, since they autonomously identify the shortest routes and avoid obstacles without the help of operators.
The helmet that mixes reality and fiction
Another interesting solution to make the work of workers easier is the helmet with visor integrated based on the mixed reality. What do I mean?
Well, by wearing this helmet, you can compare what is physically created with what the technicians designed. So the workers can see the comparison at the same time mounted material at a certain point and what will be the final result in virtual format. Basically this reality overlay and its virtual version he guides the workers who are setting up the blocks to check that everything has been assembled correctly, thus intercepting any errors and at the same time checking how much still remains to be assembled.
Automatic welders and the arrival at the dock
Once the individual blocks have been assembled, they must be welded together to form the various sections which, once transferred to the dock and joined together, will give the ship its final form.
To do this, you use some automatic welders latest generation that help to develop part of this delicate work that requires high specialization.
And so we come to the final step: the basin is flooded, the ship is baptized and launched, that is, it begins to float and can be transferred to the fitting-out dock.
Here the missing activities are completed, the acceptance tests are carried out and after the finishing touches the final delivery to the shipping company is made.
The ship is now ready to leave the shipyard to begin its adventure!
