Strategic roadmapping of robotics technologies for the power industry: A multicriteria technology assessment

This paper presents an application of a strategic technology management tool in the power sector. Technology Development Envelope is an extension of hierarchical decision modeling and Analytical Hierarchy Process into the future. The process yields multiple paths for technology development enabling organizations to build roadmaps depicting their strategies. The focus of this paper is robotics technologies and their applications in the power sector. As robotics technologies advance, they replace humans in very critical areas such as maintenance of transmission lines or hydro dams as well as operations in nuclear power plants. A decision model was developed and quantified through this study. It is validated with a case study from Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) reflecting their priorities. The model establishes a framework that any other organization can adopt and use to evaluate any emerging robotics technologies.