Amey’s facilities management (FM) business has joined forces with its in-house design and consultancy team and supply chain partner, Trimble, to trial the use of robotic technology as a means of capturing usable data across its education portfolio.
The team visited Northampton School for Girls and used both drone and autonomous bot technology to create a digital footprint of the estate. The data extracted from the pilot will now be used to create a digital twin of the building. This virtual representation will use simulation, and machine learning and reasoning to help make recommendations on future FM service delivery and project works. Amey will also use information gathered from the trial to reduce safety risks by identifying where technology can be used as an alternative to man-power.
The Amey UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) operator worked with police, and local aerodrome services to ensure the flight was both safe and had minimal impact on residents. The bot, known as Spot the Dog, was controlled by a specialist technician from Timber, an autonomous data capture provider.
David Aird, Amey’s Director of Strategic Projects, said: "Our in-house consultancy capability is a unique offering in the FM sector and allows us to harness the data driven expertise of our team to create smarter solutions for our customers. As a business we are working towards a digital future and today’s trial marks just one way we’re helping our public sector clients join us on this journey.”
Martin Ferguson, Operations Director for Amey, commented: “Both UAV and Spot Robot are allowing our teams to be more forward thinking when it comes to how we are advising our clients. The technology’s efficiency and safety advantages are evident and we’re hopefully that they will revolutionise the way we approach core FM and project works within our schools estate.”
Information from these tools can also be used to manage BIM data and create precision designs.