Robotic inspection unit

The Port of Setúbal (APSS) is making use of a remotely-controlled robotic vehicle with video equipment for capturing and recording CCTV images for infrastructure inspection purposes

APSS cleans and inspects unit collectors regularly as part of its "housekeeping" budgat and on this occasion the work involved the unit collector in the area between Pier 3 and the Recreational Dock of Fontainhas.

The authority uses high pressure water jets to remove sand and other materials clogged in the collector to facilitate the inspection, and the robot provides an alternative to manual inspection.

It has four wheel drive, a lighting system and a focus and zoom adjustment capability, transmitting in real time to a central control. It can rotate around its own axis.

Separately, APSS has reported that Setúbal handled 6.9 Mt in the first 10 months of this year, 19% more than in the same period of last year, and it expects to be within 0.1 Mt of its annual record by the end of the year. Container traffic increased sharply to 88,000 TEU, while the number of ro-ro units shipped, nearly all new cars, also increased strongly, to 123,000.