Obayashi Corporation/Development of special machine for remote installation of rock bolts, improvement of safety and labor saving
Rovoltus, a dedicated machine for remote installation of rock bolts (from press release materials)
Comparison with conventional construction method (from press release materials)
Obayashi Corporation has developed a remote rock bolt installation machine "Rovoltus" that can be operated remotely to install rock bolts in mountain tunnel construction. A series of operations from drilling holes to mortar injection and rock bolt insertion can be operated remotely. The work status is displayed on a tablet to realize high-quality construction regardless of the skill of the worker. Since workers do not need to enter the face, it contributes to safety improvement and labor saving.
Rovoltus uses a single boom for drilling holes, injecting mortar, and inserting rock bolts, and can store 20 rock bolts. The tunnel excavation work process will be shortened, and the number of workers will be reduced from five to three, resulting in a 40% reduction in manpower. Various conditions such as lock bolt length and bolt type can be set, making it possible to respond to urgent design changes.
The company is developing an integrated system "OTISM" that dramatically increases the productivity of mountain tunnel construction. Robotus will be one of the constituent technologies of the series of systems "OTISM/Tunneling" for safety improvement and labor saving in tunnel excavation.
In the future, we will continue to accumulate robotus demonstration experiments and promote cooperation with tunnel construction construction technology.
The rock bolting work serves to support the tunnel structurally after excavation. Harsh work involving workers handling heavy rock bolts while being exposed to noise and dust near the face. There were issues such as the construction speed and quality being affected by the skill of the workers.
