Task space beyond 2D planes brings challenges to the traditional automated guided vehicle (AGV) on goods delivery. In this paper, a novel self-balancing platform is designed for the stable stair climbing of AGV. While the AGV is moving in a constructional site, this mechanism enhances the AGV to handle heavy payload or even carry another operating robot, through keeping them horizontal to the ground over time. In the design, the two degree-of-freedom (DOF) of this mechanism allows the platform to rotate around two mutually perpendicular axes. The rotation ranges are [-15°, 15°] and [0°, 40°], respectively. Through the feedback of an inertial measurement unit (IMU), the self-balancing control can be achieved. The demonstration show that the workspace not only allows the mechanism to reduce the vibration acting on the carried goods when the AGV is driving on uneven terrain but also allows the platform to maintain the center of gravity (CG) while the AGV is climbing.

Quality assessment during postconstruction of buildings is an indispensable procedure in construction industry. This paper describes the design and development of a quality inspection and assessment robot (QuicaBot) that can autonomously scan the entire room using cameras and laser scanners to pick up building defects, such as hollowness, crack, evenness, alignments, and inclination. A robotic system consisting of four types of sensors and a mobile platform as well as the corresponding five types of assessment algorithms is proposed. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to have a complete robotic system for postconstruction quality assessment of buildings. The aim of the developed system is twofold: first, to systematize the manual inspection work through automation resulting in more reliable and objective inspection reports, and then, to speed up the inspection process resulting in a more efficient end product. Based on our experimental on-site tests, the developed novel robot takes only half of the manual inspection time when inspecting the same room. We have also observed that the autonomous assessment results have better inspection accuracy when compared to manual assessments. Last but not least, the results provided by QuicaBot have more consistent measurement accuracy when compared to a manual assessor. Motivated by the initial successful on-site tests and as being a practical mechatronic system illustrating how sensing, sensor fusion, and actuation can be integrated to achieve an intelligent system for building defects assessment, we believe that the QuicaBot-like robots are going to become an integral part of construction industry in the near future.