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These Little Robots are Changing the Way Solar Farms are Built, Saving Time and Money

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Solar farms represent the peak of renewable energy innovation. Solar farms' layout plays an important role because of their massive scale, often spanning vast areas with hundreds of thousands of points to survey and plan.

Solar Farms

[The CivDot and CivDot+](https://www.civrobotics.com/robots) are engineered to automate and redefine surveying in the solar landscape. With these autonomous robots, installers have increased the layout output by 8x and reduced costs by more than 50%.

From precise pre-drilling, pilling, and staging piles to installing fences, MV lines, and energy storage facilities, the robots are optimizing numerous aspects of solar farm development. 

What you lay out is what you build!


Civ Robotics in solar farms

Piling involves driving I beams into the ground to provide stability and support for suspended solar panels. 

Civ Robotics' GPS-equipped surveying robots help the crew swiftly identify where to pound the piles in the ground. It’s important that each pile is placed in the right spot with no room for error to ensure all solar arrays are aligned.

[CivDot+](https://www.civrobotics.com/robots/civdot-plus) is a great tool for pile layout alongside standard pile drivers. Even with a GPS-enabled pile driver, marking the pile coordinates has many benefits:

- Avoid looking at the screen while driving
- Improve worker safety
- Increase piling productivity by 10%
- Double verify pile position and type



Piling


Staging in solar farms involves distributing piles close enough to the pile coordinate before piling. The process is applicable and useful for both GPS pile drivers and non-GPS pile drivers.   

The piles come in varying lengths per the project specifications and are identified with different colors. 

[CivDot](https://www.civrobotics.com/robots/civdot) can mark locations for 3,000 piles per day within 4 inches accuracy, ensuring the right pile is  placed closer enough for the pile driver to pound. The CivDot takes the piles' design data, creates an optimized route, and marks the pile locations with spray paint. The operator can then install either colored flags, nails with whiskers, or stakes.


Carrying out pile staging activity with [CivDot](https://www.civrobotics.com/robots/civdot) increases the pile driving efficiency. CivDot has helped improve the survey time up to six times for our clients like Bechtel.



Staging Piles (Shakeout)

Solar farms take up space. For example, a 220 MW (roughly 1,100 acres) takes up as much as 833 American football fields. With the solar market booming, many new projects are challenged by difficult site terrains made of rocky, dense, and full of caliche soils.

Pre-drilling becomes a necessary step. Pre-drilling is the process of drilling through rocks and hard soil to replace them with softer material that is easy to pound through for piling.  

It’s important to have an accurate layout of drilling locations so that the crews can work more efficiently. CivDot+ has an accuracy of 3/100’ (8 mm) and can pin-point up to 1,200 points per day.


Pre-Drilling

An alternative for drilling and piling when the terrain is harder. Ground screws are used to cut through the most challenging soil conditions. It requires a precise layout like piling. 




Ground Screws

Medium-voltage (MV) lines are installed to connect the solar panels and distribute the electricity generated. Proper design, installation, and maintenance of MV lines are essential to maximize the performance and reliability of solar energy systems.

[CivDot](https://www.civrobotics.com/robots/civdot) can survey and lay out the location for trenching for MV lines. It can help prepare a real-scale blueprint with dashes for MV lines. 

MV Lines

Fencing around solar farms serves multiple purposes, from security and safety to ecological conservation. 

Civ Robotics’ robots help by efficiently locating points for fencing. The robots can accurately mark out the perimeter of the project, ensuring that the fence is properly placed without any gaps or overlaps. 


Fencing

Battery storage in solar farms refers to the use of rechargeable batteries to store excess energy generated by solar panels. This stored energy can then be used during peak demand or when there is less sunlight, making the solar farm more efficient and reliable.

Battery storage is placed on a leveled concrete slab, which requires creating a new foundation or framework. Civ Robotics shows construction workers where to cast the concrete for battery storage. 

Battery Storage

Revolutionize solar farm development with cutting-edge surveying solutions that enhance precision, boost efficiency, and streamline large-scale layouts like never before.

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Earthworks

Trenching is the process of digging narrow channels or trenches in the ground for diverse purposes, such as installing underground utilities, laying cables, pipes, or conduits, and creating drainage systems.

Civ Robotics’ autonomous surveying solution draws trench lines in realscale across various project types, job sites, and challenging environments. It offers a faster, safer, more accurate, and cost-effective solution. It helps measure the ground elevation and guides the field crew on how deep to dig.

Trenching

Topo or topographic surveying is the measurement and mapping of the physical features and contours of the land surface. Topo helps provide detailed information about the terrain, such as elevation changes and slopes. 

[Civ Robots](https://www.civrobotics.com/robots) measure the ground elevation  at every coordinate they mark. In addition, users can also enable Civ Robots to continuously measure the ground at predefined time and distance while in motion. 

TOPO

Cut and fill refers to the process of excavating earth material (cut) from one area of a site and using it to fill (fill) another area to achieve desired grades, slopes, or contours. 

[Civ Robots](https://www.civrobotics.com/robots) help with grade checking using delta elevation feature.


Cut & Fill

Grade checking is the process of ensuring the vertical accuracy of the finished surface grades or elevations according to design specifications. 

[CivDot](https://www.civrobotics.com/robots/civdot) helps in grade checking with elevation differences. 

Grade Checking

Achieve seamless efficiency in earthworks, from trenching and topography to cut-and-fill operations and grade checking, with real-time results that accelerate project timelines.

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Ground Improvements

Commonly used in construction to prepare the ground for foundations, roadways, and other structures, dynamic compaction is a technique that densifies soils. It involves filling materials by dropping a heavy weight from a significant height. The process reduces the void in the soil, leading to increased density, strength, and stiffness. 

Civ Robotics’ [autonomous robots](https://www.civrobotics.com/robots) are useful in accurately laying out where to drop heavy weights in a common pattern of either 5’ by 5’ or 10’ by 10’

Dynamic Compaction

Ground improvement technique used to provide a short path for water to escape from soil. Wick drains are narrow, perforated, corrugated plastic or synthetic strips wrapped in a geotextile fabric. 

Civ Robotics’ precision in land surveying and layout is invaluable in planning and executing the installation of 10,000 to 100,000 wick drains, ensuring the ground improvement process is conducted efficiently and accurately.  



Wick Drain

A technique used to enhance the strength, stiffness, and overall performance of soil. Particularly useful in areas with compressible soil conditions, columns improve the load-bearing capacity of the ground and reduce settlement. Some examples of columns include Controlled modulus columns, Stone columns, and bi-modulus columns. 


Civ Robotics’ technology helps in the planning and installation of columns by offering millimeter-level accuracy in land surveying and layout coordinates. Precise placement of columns is crucial for improving soil stability and support for future constructions. 


Columns

Streamline ground improvement projects. Ensure precise layouts for dynamic compaction, wick drains, and soil columns, delivering reliability and precision even in the most challenging conditions.

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Airport striping is an important part of the airfield’s visual aids. The primary goal of these markings is to enhance visibility and reduce runway violations

Airport Striping

[CivDash](https://www.civrobotics.com/robots/civdash) is used for pre-marking runways, taxiways, and apron markings. CivDash allows crew members to work from a safe distance (up to 100’ away). Instead of marking points every 20 feet, lay striping area with lines.

[CivDash](https://www.civrobotics.com/robots/civdash) can mark with a sub-inch accuracy and work four times faster than the traditional, manual method.  

Airport striping often occurs at night, when air traffic is reduced. In these time-sensitive scenarios, every second matters, and CivDash’s ability to work quickly and accurately is invaluable.

Set new standards in airport striping with fast, precise pre-marking of runways, taxiways, and aprons, ensuring safety and flawless execution during critical, time-sensitive operations.

Airports

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Road striping, often referred to as road marking, is a fundamental aspect of road construction and maintenance. It is an intricate process that requires accurate placement and clear visibility. 

With the manual process of road marking, which requires pulling strings and measuring tapes, contractors achieve approximately 0.7 miles of markings per hour.

Road

[CivDash](https://www.civrobotics.com/robots/civdash), a robot built for roads, automates the road layout workflow. It can mark up to 25 miles of lines in a single workday, maintaining a sub-inch accuracy.

- Mitigate risks and ensure worker safety with remote operations away from live traffic
- Equip the striping crew with full-scale drawings on the ground instead of points every 20’ for quicker, seamless striping, and say goodbye to pulling tapes.  
- Increase reliability and eliminate costly rework.



Road Marking

Guardrails are protective barriers placed along roadsides and elevated platforms to prevent accidents and falls, enhancing safety for pedestrians and vehicles alike.

[CivDash](https://www.civrobotics.com/robots/civdash) helps by efficiently locating points and lines. The robot can accurately locate and mark points, dashes and solid lines along the desired path for installation, ensuring guardrails and barriers are positioned accurately meeting safety standards and regulatory requirements.


Guardrails and Barriers

Curb and gutter form the edges of roadways, with the curb serving as a raised barrier and the gutter providing a channel for stormwater runoff. They help maintain road structure, improve drainage, and guide traffic flow efficiently.

[CivDash](https://www.civrobotics.com/robots/civdash) can assist in laying out curb and gutter by accurately mapping the desired alignment and elevation of the roadway edges.

Curb and Gutter

Redefine road construction workflows with advanced robotics for precise pre-marking, guardrail placement, and curb alignment, driving unmatched safety, efficiency, and dependability.

Roads

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Parking lot striping is managing and organizing parking lot spaces for better traffic flow. It involves measuring and applying lines, symbols, and directives to surface parking areas. 



Parking Lots Striping

Precision is the key to parking lot striping. Clear markings help prevent accidents by guiding vehicles and pedestrians, driving lanes, pedestrian crossings, and loading zones.

Parking lots require constant restriping, with CivDash contractors can create and save the mission once and re-stripe as needed.

Civ Robotics’ robot [CivDash](https://www.civrobotics.com/robots/civdash) is designed to ensure sub-inch accuracy, eliminating errors. As a result:
- It surpasses traditional methods in both precision and efficiency.
- It allows for projects to begin striping sooner thanks to the increase in layout speed.
- Ensures worker safety with remote operations.


Civ Robotics for Parking Lot Striping

Simplify parking lot striping with innovative technology that guarantees precise, durable markings for organized and secure spaces.