RACE lends a hand to Sellafield robotic dog trials
UKAEA experts supported testing of agile robots for nuclear decommissioning
Spot in action during the Sellafield trial
UKAEA바카라 사이트檚 robotics team RACE was at Sellafield recently to advise and support on how canine-like robots could help the clean-up of Western Europe바카라 사이트檚 largest nuclear site.
Sellafield Ltd held a three-day trial of Spot, the agile mobile robot developed by Boston Dynamics, at the Calder Hall nuclear power station, which is now being decommissioned.
The building offers challenging terrain in a risk-managed environment, providing ideal conditions to test Spot바카라 사이트檚 agility, scanning and radiation detection capabilities.
If successful, Spot could be deployed at locations across the Sellafield site to carry out routine tasks like inspections, mapping, data capture and characterisation. The four-legged robot is able to perform autonomous missions and can be controlled remotely via an operator, which significantly improves safety by allowing the robot to enter hazardous, contaminated areas in lieu of a person.
Spot is also expected to speed up inspection times, as robots do not require as much personal protective equipment, and help save money by ensuring more frequent data collection and better predictive maintenance.
바카라 사이트� owns two Spot devices and has been working on applications for them in industrial locations where it바카라 사이트檚 difficult or unsafe to send humans. One of its Spots last year carried out a radiation mapping project at Chernobyl for the University of Bristol.
RACE바카라 사이트檚 Guy Burroughes commented: 바카라 사이트淲e바카라 사이트檝e been using Spot for over a year in our work to develop robotics for challenging environments like nuclear facilities. We were delighted to bring this experience to support the trials at Sellafield and hope it can lead to safer, more efficient decommissioning.바카라 사이트�
The demonstration of the Spot unit was held in conjunction with Cumbria-based engineering consultant Createc and UKAEA. If the trial phase proves successful, Createc would be Boston바카라 사이트檚 Dynamics바카라 사이트� preferred UK partner for Spot operations at Sellafield and UKAEA would continue its role of providing expertise on robotics deployments in nuclear environments.