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Hydrodemolition Robot Crushes With Water
Roland Piquepaille writes "In 'Robot pummels roads with water', the Augusta Chronicle says that a hydrodemolition robot is going to restore seven bridges in Georgia. "It's a robot that destroys everything in its path with a crushing stream of water 15 times more powerful than a jackhammer. The robot looks like a street cleaner machine on steroids and is expected to begin use August 1 to resurface seven bridges on Gordon Highway from Walton Way to the bridge at the South Carolina state line." This kind of robot needs only two workers to operate it, instead of 15 workers for a jackhammer, is less noisy and more gentle for the foundations. You'll find more details in this summary."
Why do I think labor groups will be unhappy about this?
Peace and love, y'all
Man, construction unions are unstoppable.
In Soviet Russia, all our base are belong to you!
Can someone direct one of these to SCO Headquarters?
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
I'd like to attach this machine to my CPU. Wouldn't have any overheating problems then!
"How about a splash of water on this hot summer day?"
"YayyyyAAIIIEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!"
"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
now you have to be careful when someone points watergun at you.
Does it recycle the water? seems like alot of water to be wasting. But since its the City or State that would be using, its ok to waste water. Altho there will still be 15 people standing around to "supervise" the two people required to run this machine.
Mrs. Everitt said the hydrodemolition robot helps the DOT because it removes faulty concrete but leaves good concrete behind.
So it's a robot that plays God then? I cast you, bad concrete, into the abys from where you shall never return!
Just as long as it doesn't start running wild and judging humans, or there might be a significant oversupply of liquified lawyers.
Beep beep.
Folks who've never lived in a desert don't seem to understand how valuable water is in some parts of the country. While the article mentions that they water is reclaimed later by workers, in someplace like Utah or Arizona, I'm sure thousands of gallons are lost through evaporation before that can happen.
Mad Software: Rantings on Developing So
I know that the stream of water isn't going to be vibrating the road as a jackhammer would, but wouldn't 4 times as much power causes fractures of another sort? What if it is causing problems yet unseen?
And so we go, on with our lives
We know the truth, but prefer lies
Lies are simple, simple is bliss
"Requires only about two workers to supervise it instead of 15 jackhammer workers." - Source: Georgia Department of Transportation.
I remember way back when I heard of something very similar, except it was a type of "saw" where extreme water pressure was used to cut wood (and possibly other objects) nicely in half. Apparently it can be quite a nice cut, without the friction-burn of metal blades.
However, that is in an environment where the water can be recycled to a good extent as the machine runs... where does this machine get water from, and how many PSI is it dishing out? I'd assume that it requires close proximity to a good source of water, either a fire hydrant or (preferably), a lake/river/etc - as it probably shoots out a lot of water in order to achieve the correct pressure.
I was going to re-read the article and double-check, but the blink tag at the end of the linked tech review just about blinded me.
I saw a report a few years ago about the advantages of using a high-pressure water 'gun' for cutting metal. Some of the advantages was that the cooling was already taken care of, the material was recyclable with a filter, and the edges were already smoothed.
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
Try to convince me that the person who came up with this didn't watch too many porn movies...
I wonder if technology like this as any other applications?
Could these be used for all drilling projects? Imagine that, a water well, being drilled with water.
This is definitely a step towards a more ecofriendly drilling method.
4B4556494E
Road-tested hydro-cleaning power from Georgia is coming straight from the street to your dentist's office! Call 1-800-OWW-SHIT for details!
This is one totally cool unit and I have a lot of roads that I need to demolish. These roads do not appear on my cars GPS navigation system and are a hazard to navigation that must be removed. But, this beauty costs like a bazillion dollars. Is there an open source, read free, alternative to this machine? I Googled quite a bit but, all of the projects that I found seem to no longer be active. I am especially interested in hearing from anyone that has used such an open source alternative solution and would like to hear details of their success/failures.
What do we do with the poeple who are replced with automation?
The normal response is there will be 15 people working for the company that makes the automated product, but thats not true.
If I created a device that flips burgers, and cost less then maintaining a staff, people will buy it, and it will replaces millions of workes, far more then it would take to build the things.
I'm not saying we shouldn't automate, I'm just asking what do we do as our jobs per person keeps declining?
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
You'd think they would have come up with a better way to break up asphalt than hitting it really hard by now. I mean, look at all the advances in advertising, military technology, and other things that are bad for the general public, and how little improvement there has been in fixing potential safety hazards.
-Amalcon
Last decade, in Washington State, hydrodemolition was used to "resurface" the Eastbound lanes of the Lake Washington Floating Bridge, a couple of miles from the Western end of Interstate 90.
Due to a chain of snafus, the "floating" bridge sunk one Thanksgiving day. Very nearly sunk the brand new Westbound floating bridge right next to it. (Part of the root cause was the storage of hydrodemolition wastewater in the flotation cells of the bridge.)
Some years later, the records of liability were sealed in a court settlement between the state and the contractor.
and with this machine it will be even more scarce. Sounds like a bad idea unless ocean water is used.
The machine also produces less noise and dust than a jackhammer, is more powerful than a jackhammer and requires only about two people to supervise it.
They forgot to mention the foreman to supervise the two guys supervising the robot, as well as the three people needed to hold the "SLOW" signs up for the oncoming traffic.
It will be turned on protestors^W activists^W anarchists^W terrorists...
if the answer isn't violence, neither is your silence / freedom of expression doesn't make it alright
Very good point. Here in Colorado we've been in mild-to-severe drought for several years, but this spring/summer seems to be returning to normal.
There is nothing like driving by an empty lake bed, or not seeing a blue sky for 2 months through all the smoke of forrest fires, that makes you truly appriciate water.
On the subject, in the dorms there were always people who would go turn on the shower and then go take a 10 minute crap while the water was running... or leave the sink full blast while brushing their teeth. I wanted to kill them.
The problem is even worse in rural/flat areas where water is taken from pumps. The water table is very easily depleted and will take decades to replenish.
no comment
McDonalds introduces Soylent McTeens 2 for $3. Limited time offer, while supplies last.
Is that because you have to pee by the time the other guy gets back from the port-o-potty?
...15 workers for a jackhammer...
One to hold it and the other 14 to...
It's a freakin desert!!!! You are not supposed to live there!
15 workers for a jackhammer
Fifteen guys??? How many guys does it take to go to the Krispy Kreme??
Man, I'm in the wrong line of work.
Cutting/breaking stuff with water jets have been around a while. They don't use tons and tons of water (not enough to bother recycling) and they can cut up to 3" steel. They usually put some sort of abrasive in the water. Here you go: http://www.waterjets.org/waterjet_faq.html
a robot that destroys everything in its path with a crushing stream of water 15 times more powerful than a jackhammer
I think the guy who submitted the article mislead us... I believe the article means that the machine can do the same AMOUNT of work that 15 jackhammars can do in the same time period. Not that it is 15 times more powerful!
When are the submitters going to start reading their own articles?
Now that is what I call union labor :).
Has anyone even asked the Robot if he wants to do this act of destruction? How long will we be the faceless exploiters of our mechanical brothers? My heavens, forced to spray water from its orifices until the very ground below it dissolves!
You! Get your filthy hands off my Aibo!
Windows XP SP2 told me to install third-party software that prevents viruses and protects stability... I chose Ubuntu
Google Search on high pressure water cutting
A simple search and you will see many different machines that use high pressure water to do their deed. Many years ago I remember watching Beyond2000 discuss a tool used to cut wood - each cut was smooth and precise.
...US should be able to accomplishe the same by covering the roads with Playboy centerfolds.
I could see this thing being used for stuff like bomb disposal - Rather than shooting that suspicious package, drench it at high pressure and totally screw the electronics.
Oh, and fire fighters would be getting some kind of a hard-on at the thought of being able to use a pump that size - The pump must be able to pump huge volumes (several multiples of the delivered volume) of water if it's able to get enough pressure behind the water to break up concrete.
"God, root, what is difference?" - Pitr, userfriendly
These guys make them hydrodemolition machines.
Perhaps we can use the Star Wars anti-missile laser satellites that the military is working on, to just melt/vaporize the asphalt from space. That is, when the military isn't using them for "Nation Building" of course.
You're an idiot. STFU
Seems like all that stuff they say is so bad when airborne, is probably not GOOD for you waterborne. I guess it's better contained in water, but it seems like treatment could be a "gotcha" in some cases -- I recall reading one story about old computer parts (PCBs, etc) being recycled by crushing them into tiny fragments, and embedding them into asphalt...
Just before this gets out of hand, the article state that it takes 15 workers to operate 15 jackhammers.
The savings is for large-scale contiguous jackhammer work, not a 15-man crew operating ONE jackhammer as is implied.
That is all.
viral games, contageous fun. http://www.DaddySculpin.com
one of those might actually be able to clean the filth that has collected on my kitchen floor
All those guys standing around at road construction sites have a lot to do with OSHA and very little to do with unions.
.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
does it take to operate a Jackhammer? A: The mathematician gives the jackhammer to three engineers, thus reducing the problem to a previously told joke.
OK, so its off topic. But I always like to talk about my fav robot that envolves water -- the mighty... Metromelt It melts snow. Since it makes water maybe it can be hooked up to one of these water jackhammers.
Doofus #1: This thing makes lots of waste water! Where do we put it?
Doofus #2: These floating things are empty. Let's put the waste water in there!
Incredible inDUHviduals!
Why does the parent mention Mr. Carvajales said the robot is powered by diesel fuel and has water fed to it from a pressurized pump. The robot travels where it is programmed to go and shoots a stream of semen onto pavement at about 40 to 60 gallons per minute.
I was astounded by the fact that the newspaper's picture has details about the robot. The picture describes the robot as having a water PUMP that brings water to the robot. It's ingenious. Finally, a method by which we can transfer water. I mean I would have thought that maybe a Cadre of Trained Monkeys would have brought water little by little to the robot, but NO, a pump has now replaced their job. Its pure genius. Finally, a newspaper that publishes that facts that we want to know about and NEED to know about. I'm subscribing to this one!
For those of you who started complaining about Unions, the article clearly states that the machine does the work of 15 jackhammers, not that it takes 15 people to operate a jackhammer. It even shows that in the easy-to-read graphic.
These things certainly aren't new. I first saw hydrodemolition in Wichita Kansas ten years ago. Maybe the robotic part is what is so special, but I don't seem to remember them taking a lot of labor to operate anyway.
I don't care what they say, they are NOISY. But then again 15 people with jackhammers are noisy too.
I have also seen hand held hydrodemolition wands. The guys have to wear steel covers over their shoes. You can take a toe or foot off in a blink of an eye with those things.
I can understand the concerns over water usage. I can't really comment on that since I don't live in an area where water is scarce. But I can tell you that the job gets done much quicker. Hydrodemolition also does a better job of removing bad concrete than a guy with a jackhammer. When using a jackhammer, you are not ever quite sure if you have gotten all the bad concrete removed. Hydro makes it less of a question. This makes the job go quicker, plus hydro is much faster anyway.
Finally, a jackhammer is much more hard on the surrounding concrete and has more of a chance of debonding it from the reinforcing steel. They remove the concrete by impact, hydro doesn't. It is kind of like sticking your hand in front of the pressure want at the car wash. Only more painful.
use a high pressure water source called a disrupter to blow bombs apart before they can detonate.
If they could figure out a way to use the old concrete with the waste water to immediatly make new concrete it would be like a Zamboni for the highway.
This story reminded me of how when I was a kid (about 6 - 14 or so) I would take the garden hose and one of those gun-shaped attachments to my mom's garden and explore the excavatory power of water.
At one point I had a very large system of trenches about a half foot deep dug through the flowers that went on for quite a distance.
Needless to say, the local authorities (mom) weren't thrilled with this "science." They all said I was mad. They called me crazy. er...
I think one day being employed is gonna feel like a scramble to stay ahead of some impending hyper-mechanization boom. yeah, it's been happening for at least a hundred or so years with basic, non-skilled labor, but what about highly skilled labor? what's going to happen with a robot can take orders from management to design applications faster and better than a human?
Whoever posted the article seems to have misinterpreted what the article said. The article says:
"One hydrodemolition robot does the work of 15 jackhammers." "Requires only about two workers to supervise it instead of 15 jackhammer workers."
Specifically, since the robot can do the work of 15 jackhammers, you don't need those 15 jackhammer workers operating the 15 jackhammers (i.e., one worker per jackhammer), and can instead rely on the (about) two robot supervisors.
The statement on slashdot: "This kind of robot needs only two workers to operate it, instead of 15 workers for a jackhammer" incorrectly states that 15 workers are for *a* jackhammer. It could more accurately state: "This kind of robot needs only two workers to operate it, instead of 15 workers for *15* jackhammer*s whose work is performed by the one robot*"
"Until someone finds a way to use this for porn, I don't see it taking off."
The Goatse.cx man has dibs on the IP.
Far be it from me to discourage some good union/construction humor (what's big, orange, and sleeps six? a CalTrans truck.). Just in case it's interesting and non-obvious (two stretches, I know), the article compares the hydrodemolishing robot to 15 people using 15 jackhammers, rather than 15 people sharing 1 jackhammer.
If you love something, let it go. If it comes back to you, hump its leg.
Translation:
Roland Piquepaille writes "... You'll find more details [LINKS 1, 2 to the company's site and one from a distributor!] in this summary [THAT'S MY BLOG!]"
What it should have said:
Roland Piquepaille writes "...You'll find links 1, 2 to the company's site and one from a distributor that only L337 H4x0rz [LIKE ME!] can find [GOOGLE IS, LIKE, SO KEWL] and could have linked to directly from my Slashdot post instead of forcing you to go to my blog [LIKE PAVLOVIAN DOGS], Roland Piquepaille's "Slashdot Karma-Whoring" Technology Trends and hunt for it, just so I could bump up my karma here/ try to turn myself into a pundit."
Someone, please tell me: When will the karma-whoring end?!? OH, THE HUMANITY! ;)
Can I use this on my boss? She sometimes acts like her heart is made of stone.
Spread the RC luvin'
Just the thing to get the dried out coke and cigarette ash off my keyboard. I just hope it's powerful enough!
Never fight naked, unless you're in prison...
this was news in NINETEEN EIGHTY FOUR when it was first released...
So in other words, something like this.
[SIG] It's like putting a moose in the blender -- a recipe for disaster!
GAHHH! We cannot give robots destructive powers, they'll kill us all! Have you people learned nothing from The Matrix?
If your theory is different from practice, then your theory is wrong.
...so they may take our code but all your waters belongs to us....
Perhaps I am one of the few Civil Engineers who find myself reading /. So +karma to the editors for bringing this article.
I still would like to know how it removes the concret and doesn't dammage the rebar. When you start getting aligator cracking in concrete roads, water has more than likely reached the rebar, rusting it.
Some newer road specs require that the rebar be coated with epoxy. This cuts down on rust, and may allow for rebar reuse in the case stated with the article.
--C. Alan, PE
As an Augusta native, I can tell you those bridges are the only roads in the whole freaking city that don't have pot holes or construction all over them. I've blown six tires just driving down Walton Way. As for South Carolina... *shiver*
This kind of robot needs only two workers to operate it, instead of 15 workers for a jackhammer
Not that union guys don't do their fair share of shovel leaning, but I think perhaps they mean that the job would require 15 men using jackhammers, not that it takes 15 men to operate a jackhammer.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
I always thought that paper beats rock? Wait, but scissors beats paper. Kiff, we have a conundrum!
Never fight naked, unless you're in prison...
By that time I will have my cyberjack installed and won't care anymore.
Elementary chaos theory tells us that all robots will eventually turn against their masters and run amok, in an orgy of blood and the kicking and the biting with the metal teeth and the hurting and shoving.
How did the DOT get around the unions with this? Certainly going from 15 union guys to 2 union guys can't be what the union would want.
And can we read a summary in some detailed report somewhere?
"Some joker dumped a bottle of dishwasher liquid into the water tank. Now the whole bridge is covered in suds. The irony is that we're not sure how to address the situation without referring to 'cleaning it up'..."
What makes this a robot? and not just another piece of heavy equipment.
Old Glory: For when the metal ones decide to come for you. And they will.
"I don't think we've ever had anything like that over in Augusta," said Vonda Everitt, of the Georgia DOT...
"It doesn't look like your typical cartoon-looking robot," said Rusty Merritt, of the Georgia DOT.
I don't know about you, but I would be hesitant to trust these people with a bag of marshmallows, much less a computer-controlled demolition robot.
no etymology in either.
You know this thing will have a number 3 on the side of it :)
:)
(Sorry - I'm from Georgia and live there and have never gotten the whole NASCAR thing
Alright, I'm sure someone has the answer to this... what makes this thing a 'robot' as opposed to say... just a big fscking tool?
I mean, it still takes to people to operate it, so it's by no means autonomous.
As0k
Self improvement is masturbation... therefore masturbation is self improvement...*zip*
Been there, done that. A company that I used to work for used a quinaplex pump at 15,000PSI to blast concrete (or 10,000 PSI to remove road tar with a lance)The hose from the quinaplex to the robot was rated for 60,000PSI. There was no water recycling used back then. (80's)
University of Missouri -- Rolla had a research project ~20 years ago to quarry granite with water. They built a stonehenge replica with blocks that they cut with water jets: http://web.umr.edu/~stonehen/
In other news, the company plans to release a bidet using the same technology. The system will have 2 settings, one for wash, the other for enema.
haha
We've got unmanned armed airal drones, we've got automated trains, and now a super powerful squirt gun that operates all on its own! I'm taking bets on which comes true first: The terminator or Maximum Overdrive.
One source is here but it seems boring and reasonable. From the year 1848 and related to some ancient gamers. I see no horror.
See Flow Corporation. Their history shows that they're the inventors and still the leader.
Their systems run to over 60,000 psi. Applications are often similar to various types of laser cutting, for instance cutting fabric or paper without stress and better accuracy so less (or zero) margin need be kept between pieces, reducing waste.
Back in the early 1980's I watched the thing cut things from fabric to aluminum sheet to rock without stress or mess (surprisingly enough) - the water stream appeared to be about 1/32 inch wide, and carried the material removed with it. It can even cut paper without getting it wet. It was like a bandsaw without sawdust.
As I recall, the water was filtered extremely well and recycled through the system, so wastage of water was very low. Total volumes were teensy anyway. It was all about precision.
It's a continuous stream rather than a pulsed stream, so it's using a completely different principle than the hydrodynamic hammer.
It's easier to be a result of the past, but more fun to be a cause of the future! http://www.spacefinancegroup.com/
No comment, I just enjoy typing, "a robot that destroys everything in its path."
Has anyone else been playing too much Warcraft III? The first thing that came into my mind was that Water Elemental thingy..
Sigh,
Stephen
What the well-dressed hydrodemolition operator is wearing this season: WaterArmor.
Wonder why they never used that method of attack in Robot Wars?
...Redmond is not the butt of this type of joke...
According to the spam I receive each day, the construction workers could just send away for a certain wonder-product and use part of their anatomy to smash the bridges down.
I worked construction for years, jacking bridges up as part of their "rehabilitation" and repairing and replacing their suspension systems. These things have been around for years and years... The company I worked for was by no means a "large" outfit, and they subcontracted out all the work to some people using a Flowcorp machine, then a team of our own guys would come along behind the maching and clean up the mess it left behind: digging out the rebar that didn't get cut free because the Flow crew didn't have the machine set right, cleaning up the mud, cutting the edges in (and sometimes a lot more because the Flow guys were trying to look as if they were on schedule...) etc. The most amazing part of that those machines could only come from a "bridge troll" like myself, working BELOW the bridge... Occasionally, the concrete of the bridge would be bad all the way through, and the pressure would tear right through the bridge instead of just down below the first layer of rebar. This was where you could REALLY appreciate the power of those water jets: something like a shotgun blast would go off, then shards of concrete would ricochette all over below the bridge, and the 5-6 guys on our crew would all be praising the powers that be that none of us were directly unde the thing. I somehow don't think that the designers of hard-hats ever thought that we might need to be safe from shot-gun blasts on construction jobs...
You forgot all about the inspectors that the state (at least in NY) sends around to make sure that private contractors are doing he work properly... You can tell them apart from the workers, unfortunately, but on many an occasion, our crew (12 guys, "bridge trolls" replacing the suspension systems under the bridges) would be outnumbered by inspectors. We'd just shake our head realizing how bad that must look..
for a Hollywood picture to be released where the bad guy gets pummeled by one of these things at the end?
Also, I liked this line from the article:
"It doesn't look like your typical cartoon-looking robot," said Rusty Merritt, of the Georgia DOT.
No kidding? I thought it would look like Megatron.
Cheers
Stor
"Yeah well there's a lot of stuff that should be, but isn't"
here i come.
"and requires only about two people to supervise it"
Or perhaps just 1.8 workers?
This technology is already in use (Yahoo! cache of Indy Star article) on the Hyperfix project in Indianapolis.
Hyperfix is a project in which they're completely replacing the highway segment in downtown Indianapolis in which Interstates 65 and 70 are multiplexed, in only 85 days. Crews are working 24/7.
As someone who has rented and used a small jackhammer, I no longer complain when I see 4 or 5 guys waiting their turn. It is the most exhaustive work I have ever done.
You are probably holding your tounge wrong.
Eve Fairbanks says I drive a hybrid!LOL
Not like they have screwed traffic enough around Augusta, GA.
They are working on quite a few roads in the area. (Anyone who has driven on I-20 around Augusta would understand)
Still, they can't seem to figure out the flooding in front of my work. Oh, well. I guess I can swim to see the new robot.
In God we trust, all others require data.
write a song about this?
there is moonlight and moss in the trees, down the seven bridges rooooooooobot...
We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. - HST
In soviet Russia, Hydrodemolition Robot crushes you!
-- You people make me sig!
This will someday show up in a Bond flick. James strapped to the concrete wall, underground, where the villain has been tunneling under the embassy, and the robot arm raises ominously....
...
You know, a company already did this, and their solution was smaller (you can carry it on your back, indeed), easier to use, and includes an artificial intelligence program that helps the user on many situations.
Japanese always do it better...
Some years later, the records of liability were sealed in a court settlement between the state and the contractor.
That's the third time today I read about someone screwing up and the records being sealed. I'm really starting to develop a distate for the entire notion of sealing court records.
I'm sure someone can come up with a good example of why and when court records should be sealed, but I really don't want to hear it at the moment. Let me have my little daydream of a world where it's illegal to seal records, a world where the birds never splatter poop on my car, a world where slashdot won't run three more SCO stories in the next 24 hours.
-
- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
180mm is more like a small screw driver>/I>
Generally fasteners that large use a hex head or a through-hole to turn them, if they aren't in fact simply welded. By any measure, a screwdriver 180mm across is outlandishly large.
Incidentally... What is a "moster"? Something that mosts? If so, when did "most" become a verb?
They can settle out the water that gets sucked up with the rubble, filter it well, and reuse it. They can also filter untreated ditchwater.
Now, something like this would never be permitted around here (front range region of Colorado, USA), as the water supply would be a barrier. Our water laws are some of the most complex rules since the fall of Byzantium, and the supply is tight enough that nobody'd ever let them use water for such a purpose, even if they got the supply.
Here's an interesting tidbit from the article (emphasis mine):
The hydrodemolition robot is still considered relatively new technology, having first been used in 1984.
That's like saying that my TRS-80 Model 100 (with home-built speech synthesizer connected to the parallel port) is cutting edge.
I guess if the construction industry advanced at the rate Slashdot readers are accustomed, demolition would look like the final scene in One Froggy Evening, where the construction worker of the future is clearing debris with a ray gun (and finds the singing frog cached away by his 1950s counterpart).
Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.