Webinar on Service Robots for

Safety Inspection and Maintenance of Large Structures

Date, Time & Venue
17 March 2022 (Thursday); 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm; Zoom Webinar

Abstract
Large buildings and high-rise structures often require regular inspection and maintenance in order to ensure their structural integrity. Failure to carry out proper maintenance could cause life, damages to property and sometimes even criminal charges. Traditional manual methods often require the installation of costly scaffolding or gondolas. Human workers must stand on these scaffolds or gondolas in mid-air and at high altitude to carry out inspections and repairs. Inevitably, this is a slow and costly maintenance process. Furthermore, in some industries such as off-shore, nuclear, chemical and power generation industries, inspection by human workers is hazardous and difficult if not impossible. In view of this difficulty, a number of service robots have been developed to remotely perform maintenance and inspection tasks. In this talk, the speaker will present some applications of service robots in nuclear reactor cooling pipe inspection, temperature sensor installation on a nuclear reactor pressure vessel, support frame metal cutting, tiled wall inspection, pipe inspections, etc. Some of these robots have climbing legs and some have industrial gondola-like resemblance. Some of these robots are also equipped with artificial intelligence to mimic the skills of human workers. 

Dr Luk Bing Lam’s Short Biography
Dr Luk has extensive industrial and research experience in the field of robotics for nuclear applications. Dr Luk was the principal investigator and co-investigator of a number of European and British robotic research projects for the nuclear industry. Most of these researched robots were biologically inspired and were used in hazardous and radioactive environments for inspection and maintenance applications. Dr Luk also participated in a large scale nuclear reactor inspection programme in the UK to inspect pressure vessels and reactor cooling ducts of Magnox type nuclear reactors. With his extensive knowledge in the nuclear industry, he was invited by the Hong Kong SAR Government as a member of Expert Advisory Panel for providing technical advice to the Government during the Fukushima nuclear accident and also reviewing the latest Daya Bay Contingency plan. He was also elected twice as the chairman of Nuclear Division of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE). He has served as a member of Energy Advisory Committee of Hong Kong SAR Government for 6 years and also member of Long-term Carbon Reduction Strategy Support Group of Sustainable Development Committee. Dr Luk is currently the chairman of Hong Kong Nuclear Society and also a member of Radiological Protection Advisory Group of Department of Health. At present, he is holding a laboratory management and teaching position at CityU. His teaching subjects are mainly related to mechatronics and nuclear engineering, and his current research interest is in new non-destructive testing techniques, such as impact-acoustics, and active thermography and Shearography, for mobile robots in order to improve efficient and reduce risk in inspecting large structures in hazardous environments.

Registration and Enquiry
The seminar is free of charge and prior registration is required.  The number of participants will be limited to 200 and applicants will be served on a first-come-first-serve basis. Priority will be given to the members of Nuclear Division.  For registration, please submit an online application via the following weblink: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc16Juo-pVzoTWAplMm9T9H7FPbqmtFLim_pK7WU-sk-8Q0fA/viewform. Successful applicants will be notified by email.

Disclaimer

All information and views expressed by speakers and in their conference materials do not reflect the official opinion and position of HKIE. No responsibility is accepted by the HKIE or their publisher for such information and views including their accuracy, correctness and veracity.