Case Study: Acciona improves tunnel inspection and data capture with Boston Dynamics Spot and Trimble

Spanish infrastructure and sustainability firm Acciona is inventing new ways to gather more tunnel construction data, more quickly, using Boston Dynamics Spot and Trimble solutions

Acciona, a Spanish infrastructure and sustainability firm, faced a challenge with dangerous and time-consuming data collection during tunnel construction. Due to hazards like explosives, gas, and debris, human workers had long periods where they could not safely enter tunnels to perform vital scans for validating construction against design plans. This created significant downtime and safety risks. To address this, Acciona partnered with vendor Boston Dynamics and implemented their Spot robot equipped with a Trimble laser scanning payload.

The solution from Boston Dynamics utilized Spot’s unique ability to traverse difficult terrain autonomously and carry heavy payloads into unsafe areas. This allowed Acciona to perform scans during previously unusable downtime, increasing productivity and enhancing worker safety. The implementation resulted in more frequent and accurate data collection, leading to more comprehensive 3D models and a reduction in human error. Acciona is confident this innovation will streamline workflows and is testing Spot for use in a wider range of inspection and maintenance tasks across its operations.

Acciona

Carlos Crespo

Robotics & Automation Manager