Michelin maintenance team guided by Spot

New York - Michelin is employing an innovative maintenance technology from Boston Dynamics at its manufacturing factory in Lexington, South Carolina, the supplier has reported. 

Called Spot, the system is being used "to delegate mundane inspection tasks," said the US robotics company, reporting a number of enhancements at the Michelin plant since its implementation.

The system, stated the company, runs a series of 'inspection missions' scanning about 350 points across 700 assets to help detect anomalies that could cause downtime.

Associated software, meanwhile, analyses data from motor scans, notifying maintenance teams "immediately" about any temperature anomalies on equipment, continued Boston Dynamics.

Spot, it added, has also assisted in generating 72 work-orders in Michelin’s system to date*, towards avoiding uncontrolled breakdowns and production losses, continued Boston Dynamics.

A further application, it said, has involved identifying compressed air-leaks: the system has generated 66 work orders, enabling Michelin to reduce energy consumption.

 *In its case study, Boston Dynamics did not indicate a start-date for implementation.