Data centres
Data centres offer the most favourable technical conditions for automated inspection rounds: level floors, constant lighting, rectangular geometry, no changing obstacles, no weather. What requires elaborate mapping in other environments works reliably here.
The inspection tasks have shifted in recent years. The classic task is thermal condition monitoring: temperature distribution in cold and hot aisles, detection of hotspots, checking airflow and obstructed floor outlets. In addition, there is the capture of the infrastructure rooms – uninterruptible power supply, battery rooms, cooling generation – where thermal anomalies are early indicators of failures.
With the rising power density due to AI hardware, a second case is gaining importance: leak detection in liquid cooling. Direct-to-chip and immersion cooling bring water into the immediate vicinity of the electronics. Regular visual and thermal inspection of the distribution circuits, hose connections and rack connections is not a convenience here, but a risk precaution.
A third area is documentation: automated recording of equipment configuration, reading rack and port labels, reconciliation with the inventory. In large installations, where experience shows that documentation deviates from reality, this is a benefit in its own right.
Further reading: Data protection and co-determination covers integration into access and data protection concepts.
Change log (1)
- 5 October 2026 Initial publication First publication of the English version.
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These articles are available in German.
- Thermografie-Grundlagen für die Anlageninspektion
- LiDAR und SLAM – wie sich ein System ohne Satellitensignal orientiert
- Rechenzentrum – Thermografie, Leckageerkennung und die Grenzen im laufenden Betrieb
- Cost-effectiveness of inspection robots – purchase, leasing or Robot-as-a-Service
- Data protection and works council co-determination in the deployment of inspection robots
- Inspection robots – a guide for operators