26th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction (ISARC 2009) 245 Experimental evaluation of a robotic bolting device in steel beam assembly Kyungmo Jung 1 , Youngsu Chu 1 , Baeksuk Chu 2 , Daehie Hong 2# , Shinsuk Park 2 , Myo-Taeg Lim 3 , Yongkwun Lee 4 , Sung-Uk Lee 5 , Kang Ho Ko 6 and Min Chul Kim 7 1 Graduate School, Korea University, 5-1, Anam-dong, Sungbuk-gu, Seoul, 136-701, Korea 2 Division of Mechanical Engineering, Korea University, 5-1, Anam-dong, Sungbuk-gu, Seoul, 136-701, Korea 3 School of Electrical Engineering, Korea University, 5-1, Anam-dong, Sungbuk-gu, Seoul, 136-701, Korea 4 Center for Cognitive Robotics Research, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, Korea 5 Nuclear Robotics Laboratory, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon, Korea 6 R&D Center mPLUS Corp., Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, Korea 7 R&D Center ROBOTOUS Inc., Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Korea # Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 2 3290 3369, Fax.: +82 2 926 9290, E-mail address: dhhong@korea.ac.kr Abstract This paper deals with a robotic system for the steel beam assembly task in building construction. Applying the robotic system on the steel beam assembly, we pursue such advantage as improving safety for workers and reducing construction period and cost. The robotic bolting device suggested in this paper has a gantry-type moving apparatus which includes a bolting end-effector. The bolting end-effector is designed especially for bolting mechanism using TS(Torque Shear) type bolt. In order to perform the bolting assembly tests, we made an experimental testbed which was similar to a real steel construction environment. Through the tests, we acquired feasible results for applying the robotic bolting device to real steel construction sites. Keywords: Construction robot, bolting, steel beam assembly, robotic bolting device. 1. Introduction In recent years, various studies have been attempted to employ robotic technologies to construction field. As an example, in Korea, a research on the development of the Construction Automation System of High- rising Building was initiated[1,2]. This system is based on CF(Construction Factory) technology[3,4]. CF is a factory-like structure in which several construction robots are equipped to automate construction works. This project consists of four research categories like follows: (1) Construction automation system planning and integration for robotic crane based high-rise building structure, (2) Climbing hydraulic robot and CF structure technology, (3) Robotic crane based construction material installation technology, and (4) RFID(Radio Frequency IDentification) and multi-DOF CAD based intelligent construction material supply system. Figure 1 shows a 1/20 size model of the construction automation system. This paper focuses on “(3) Robotic crane based construction material installation technology”. In order to perform the task (3), an automation system for robotic beam assembly was suggested[5]. In this study, the robotic bolting device for beam assembly was briefly reviewed and extensive experiments were performed to obtain bolting criterion to assure successful bolting tasks. With the results of the experiments, an angular criterion and a force criterion between the beam and the robotic bolting device were attained. They can be used for developing and improving the robotic assembly system. 2. Robotic bolting device A robotic system used for construction automation is developed for bolt assembly automation[5]. In this study, we introduce a robotic bolting device that consists of a robotic manipulator and a bolting end-effector to assemble construction materials. For the robotic bolting device, a bolting mechanism using TS type bolt is employed, by which the bolting procedure can be fairly simplified.