The Nestle Purina plant in Crete has been utilizing a new Boston Dynamics Robot Dog in its manufacturing area to prolong the life of their machines and prevent breakdowns.
“Other factories where it's been at, they've named it,†Neil said. “So what we plan to do is make it fun with the team, and maybe have people submit suggestions for a name and then we'll have a vote or something.â€
Spot is no ordinary dog. It's a Boston Dynamics robot designed to help with predictive maintenance in places like factories. The dog-like robot walks through the factory doing systems and safety checks. The addition of the robot dog is part of the factory’s work to incorporate automation and technology into the site.
The robot has thermal-reading, gauge-monitoring and gas-detection features to help with site safety, according to the . During one of the robot’s walk-throughs of the facility on Tuesday, it stopped and scanned different areas.
“It's doing a lot of the boots-on-the-ground kind of work,†said Kenny Rose, a predictive maintenance tech at the factory. “It's doing the gathering of what's out there, and then we're able to spend more time analyzing what the issues are.â€
The Purina facility in Crete started production in 1965 and now produces more than 1,000 tons of cat and dog food every day and employs more than 500 people. The Crete factory getting this robot is part of Purina’s efforts to introduce Spot robots to all of its facilities. Purina had already deployed some robots and the factory in Crete was part of a second round of deployments, said Tanner Winberg, an associate maintenance manager at the factory.
It's now about two weeks into using the robot.
“Robot wranglers†like Rose analyze data the robot collects to find any issues. The robot makes it easier to find anomalies, Winberg said.
“It's more value added for them to sit by the computer and try to analyze the data than it is for them to run around all day with sensors and guns,†he said.
The robot helps the team prevent equipment failures, quality issues and safety issues, Winberg said.
Spot is automated and carries out routes independently. The battery life of the robot is about 90 minutes, so it often charges in its dock throughout the day, Winberg said.
“So what it'll do is it'll sit in the dock and charge for a bit, then it might go out and do a route, surveying our packaging equipment,†he said.
After going back to charge, the robot will repeat those steps, going to different areas throughout the day and week, Winberg said.
The robot also is able to navigate sites by climbing stairs and moving out of the way of people and forklifts.
Some workers at the factory have been surprised by Spot, Winberg said.
“They've seen a lot of people like taking pictures and video,†Winberg said. “Overall reaction is really good, though.â€
The Nestle Purina plant in Crete has been utilizing a new Boston Dynamics Robot Dog in its manufacturing area to prolong the life of their mac…
A Boston Dynamics robot dog, which is named Spot, walks a set route checking on machinery in the manufacturing area using thermal imaging cameras and other tools to ensure that machines are running correctly at the Nestle Purina Petcare factory in Crete.
Factory manager Dan Neil (from left), associate maintenance manager Tanner Winberg, predictive maintenance tech Kenny Rose, PDM Tech Chu Fung Wong, and IT tech Gary Schellhorn pose for a photo alongside their new Boston Dynamics robot dog "Spot" at Nestle Purina Petcare Company on Tuesday in Crete.
A Boston Dynamics robot dog, which is named Spot, walks a set route checking on machinery in the manufacturing area using thermal imaging cameras and other tools to ensure that machines are running correctly at the Nestle Purina Petcare factory in Crete.
A Boston Dynamics robot dog, which is named Spot, walks a set route checking on machinery in the manufacturing area using thermal imaging cameras and other tools to ensure that machines are running correctly at the Nestle Purina Petcare factory in Crete.