INTELLIGENT AUTONOMOUS SYSTEM DEVOTED TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCY AND SAFETY IN INDUSTRIAL PLANT

The industrial plants, in process industries, are often characterized critical environments and dangerous conditions respect the utilization of human workforce. These aspects are quite common in chemical, oil & gas, iron & steel plants where this combination of factors causes serious accidents. The aim of this study is to develop a new generation of intelligent autonomous system capable to support operations in these environments reducing the presence of workers in most risky operations. In order to succeed in this task, these new systems must be suitable to operate in complex industrial environments and to face related threats and risks. Indeed, this paper proposes an analysis of a complex industrial environment related to hot metal production by identify the most dangerous areas and operations as well as potential critical elements for autonomous vehicle use. Consequently, simulation solutions are proposed to support engineering of these innovative robotic system as well as development of new operations and procedures.