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Clearpath Robotics, a manufacturer of mobile robotics platforms for research and development, announced Husky Observer, a fully integrated system designed to accelerate inspection solutions. This new configuration of the Husky aims to enable robotics developers and technology groups to build their inspection solutions and fast-track their system development.

Built on Top of the Versatile Husky Base Platform

Husky UGV is a tried and tested base platform that is trusted by hundreds of robotics researchers and engineers worldwide. With its simple and rugged design, Husky UGV is built to endure all real-world terrain making it ideal for observation missions. Fully supported in ROS, the robot can program complex autonomous systems.

As a result of past successful integration projects, the Husky Observer has been designed to showcase the flexibility of the Husky UGV. Pre-installed with Clearpath’s OutdoorNav Autonomy Software, the Husky Observer is built for all types of outdoor autonomous missions including but not limited to equipment monitoring, remote virtual inspection and detailed unmanned data collection.

“For more than a decade we have helped our customers succeed in their robotics projects. We’re excited to showcase the Husky’s versatility as well as bring our experience and capabilities to remote inspection where our products can accelerate the industry,” Bryan Webb, President of Clearpath Robotics, said.

Husky Observer: Inspection Ready

The Husky Observer comes with a variety of sensors, allowing users to program points of interest and capture data for offline review. Below are data capture stills from our Robotic Observation Systems:

Outdoor Thermal Sensor Data

Indoor LiDAR Data on RViz

Layered Thermal Sensor Data for Leak Detection

The Husky Observer is pre-installed with Clearpath’s OutdoorNav Autonomy Software enabling developers to plan and execute missions with an easy-to-use web interface for autonomous navigation in outdoor environments. The web-based user interface also supports teleoperation mode, allowing users to control their vehicle remotely. OutdoorNav supports several inspection actions out of the box, such as audio, image and video capture, and optional thermal capture. It provides an interface for users to integrate their own custom actions. The integrated system comes with a full-featured ROS Application Programming Interface (API) allowing advanced users to extend the capabilities of the system with their own add-ons. 

The Husky Observer is best deployed by tech-savvy personnel for:

• Remote virtual inspection, data sampling and image capture of infrastructure, high-value assets and safety critical equipment on oil & gas rigs, electrical substations, nuclear facilities, and solar and wind farms
• Unmanned data collection, scanning and quality inspection of job sites
• Remote construction site and progress monitoring
• Autonomous patrolling and monitoring of outdoor private and secured facilities
• Environment observation, real-time image transmission and data capture
• Remote crop and soil monitoring in orchards, vineyards, and other light agricultural environments.

With Husky Observer, robotics developers can get their applications up and running quickly, without needing to worry about the low-level intricacies of autonomous navigation and sensor integration. Clearpath Robotics’ services team can also add and integrate sensors based on customer requests.