Development of a Mobile Manipulation System for Pier Construction

A pier is a structure that supports the bridge girder as the lower structure of the bridge. Concrete piers are generally constructed by connecting rebars, installing formwork and then pouring concrete. Pier construction is performed by repeating rebar connection work, formwork installation work, concrete pouring work, formwork dismantling work and formwork installation work. Such pier construction requires work at height and falls frequently occur during the operation of the above procedures. An automation system is being developed to reduce the risk of accidents, shorten the construction period and improve the quality of the pier construction work; automation is being attempted to some of the pier construction tasks. Most of the pier construction work, however, is still performed by workers and these tasks are not easy to automate. This paper proposes a mobile manipulation system that can support rebar structure connection work, concrete pouring and concrete vibrating work in pier construction work. We developed a prototype of the proposed system and verified its applicability through driving experiments.