Applus+ Successfully Completed the Remote Inspection of a 500-ton Crane

The crane was located in a restricted zone of Abu Dhabi and due to COVID-19 restrictions, it was not possible to mobilise a team of technicians to the site. To overcome the challenge, our team presented the client with the Applus+ Remote Technical Assistant (ATR) software, which allows for an inspection to be carried out remotely, in real-time.
 

By using this innovative technology, only one person was required to be on-site to send data to the office-based team. The inspection was led by Lifting Specialist and Senior Inspector, Balakumar M from the Applus+ office in Abu Dhabi. Balakumar M commented, “The ATR system allows for an inspection to be carried out remotely, without compromising the requirements of a regular site inspection.”

All team members were able to communicate in real-time, which ensured the inspection was carried out in an efficient and safe manner. The ATR system allows the on-site technician to record the inspection in high definition and add comments to the recorded material through an augmented reality feature. Through augmented reality, the team was able to interact by adding annotations, text, symbols and drawings to the images that were captured during the inspection. ATR also allows documents and other audio-visual material to be sent via a mobile device and shared to the remotely connected team. The ATR system allows large amounts of information to be collected and stored in the cloud server, facilitating the preparation of reports and the client’s access to all the inspection data.

In this specific project, Applus+ was able to reduce travel time and fuel emissions, resulting in a more efficient inspection. Even though some facilities are located in remote areas where communication signals are weak, the ATR system can operate with low-speed data transfer which ensures no interference in the communication between the on-site technician and the office-based team.

Abdul Rahman, Business Development Manager for Applus+ in the UAE commented, “This technology allows us to overcome the current travel restrictions. The Applus+ Remote Technical Assistant software ensures that an inspection is conducted in a safe and efficient manner.”