Royal Boskalis is a large player in the maritime industry and maintains multiple types of ships for dredging purposes. One particular type, the Cutter Suction dredger, uses a rotating cutter head with cutting teeth mounted on it. These teeth weigh up to 41 kg and must be replaced regularly due to wear. This physically demanding task is currently carried out by 8 workers using basic mechanical assist.
This MSc thesis focuses on the design of a collaborative robot solution aimed to improve the working conditions on the ship and the efficiency of operating the dredger. A cable-driven parallel robot operated by physical interaction is designed and evaluated by simulations. The design is proven to be safe and shows the potential to outperform the current solution. Although the design is far from a finished product, this work is a first step towards a safe and efficient collaborative tool assisting Boskalis’ employees in replacing the cutting teeth on cutter suction dredgers.