Bronze Futuristic Design · 2022
Acoustic Cable Deicing Robot Conceptual
by Siyang Xu
- A' Design Award 2022 Bronze Winner in Futuristic Design
- Awarded April 15, 2022
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 88,827
- Verification code 63B6DF68E5 · Verify this award
About Acoustic Cable Deicing Robot Conceptual
Acoustic Cable Deicing Robot is a conceptual robot designed to remove ice from power cables after snowstorms. The device is mounted directly on the cable. A cylindrical heating ring inside the robot gradually warms the cable surface until the ice melts. An anti-freezing material on the outer layer prevents ice from forming again. Closed switches on both sides keep the robot attached during work. A manual interface and a mobile application let the operator preset tasks and follow progress. The robot is intended to replace manual deicing at height and reduce risk for workers.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- This is an intelligent robot that works after natural disasters.
When the snowstorm freezes the cable's outer layer in the city, the intelligent device can be used to remove the ice. The cylindrical heating ring in the middle of the deicing robot gradually heats up the cable's outer layer, and the outer layer of the cable is filled with frozen maintenance material to prevent the secondary freezing of the cable. - Dimensions & Packaging
- The equipment is 310 mm long, 150 mm wide and 150 mm high.
Inner cylinder diameter 15-45 mm (adjustable according to cable diameter) - Tags
- Intelligence, deicing, robot, controllable, solar energy, protection
- Production Technology
- High manganese steel is a high-metal material, and composite metal chromium fusion, hard and rust-proof. Titanium plating Technology can be used to enhance Surface friction
- Design Challenge
- It is difficult to search for deicing solutions in various countries in the process. The feedback of these programs varies greatly, and the starting point of the design should also take into account the degree of scientific and technological development of the country and whether the public can accept the arrival of new technology.
There are many disputes in the selection of materials, the materials of the equipment should take into account both high temperature and low temperature resistance, and work in different environments.
The data of cable diameter also varies from country to country, and the authors design an adjustable width of the inner diameter. - Project Duration
- The design plan begins in March 2019 and ends in November 2020 in the United States.
- Operation Flow
- There is a symmetrical closed switch on the left and right sides of the device, which is manually used to prevent the robot from automatically opening and falling off from the cable while it is working.
One side of the robot has a manual interface on which users can preset their work.
Secondly, the deicing robot also has control of the APP.
The operator can check the progress of the equipment on APP.
If the equipment is damaged, the user can stop the robot from working in time and rush to repair it.
In the working state, the equipment will flash orange light to prevent other organisms' interference, and the color can be set on its own. - Research
- The design is a conceptual design to solve the problem of production recovery under natural disasters.
The author hopes to improve the urban recovery after the snowstorm through this design.
Power outages occur in most cities after a snowstorm.
In the design process with the team members of multi-country questionnaires and disaster inquiries. These data reflect how different countries deal with the removal of cable ice. The purpose of the design is to improve some workers who work at height and reduce the risk factor at work. - Inspiration
- In some extremely cold areas of various countries, power transmission is lost every year because a snowstorm freezes the cable. Let many cities into the paralysis without electricity.
And the handling of ice has always been done manually, so it is hazardous to work in the cold high air. A cable with a distance of 10 meters often takes workers 3-4 hours to clean. - Image Credits
- image #1：Siyang Xu，image #2：Siyang Xu，image #3：Siyang Xu，image #3：Siyang Xu
- Patents
- No patent
Colors of Acoustic Cable Deicing Robot Conceptual
Design Interview about Acoustic Cable Deicing Robot Conceptual
In countries and cities with severe snow accumulation all year round due to the special environment, heavy snow has brought too much human and financial resources consumption.
In the case of unmanned operation, IoT applications can better solve the work in some special environments
The product still needs to be upgraded to bring more complete applications
About a year
At the beginning of designing this product, as a designer, I observed the power damage caused by heavy snow in surrounding cities, and used this as a design requirement to bring a new design concept.
A company contacted me before, but the product is still in the concept part, and the detailed functions will continue to be improved in the future
As a designer, I play more of an observer of life and propose better optimization methods for existing problems
Long-term work in an electric power company in an extremely cold region
I prefer to use the better IoT or satellite system to improve the workflow
When naming this product, I hope that users will know what kind of robot product this is when they see the name
Rhino and Keyshot
Bionic robotic arms replace workers' repetitive work
This is my personal independent work
This is a core issue. As an industrial designer, we should not only think about appearance and function. Even for conceptual design, we often have to rely on the existing level of technology to quickly gain market recognition.
When you have an idea, you have to obtain some market demand information and information about companies that can produce it. These key information can prompt you to design a more perfect product.
In the early stage of AI's booming development, we hope that robots can replace us to complete some more challenging tasks. It is a huge challenge to achieve the perfect integration of AI and robots.
I have participated in many design competitions and have some experience in this area.
I think we should observe life, the surrounding environment and the developing technology more.
No more for now