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Autonomous robot paves the way for future nuclear maintenance
2/10/2024
News
The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and the Oxford Robotics Institute (ORI), University of Oxford, have achieved a first-ever autonomous robot deployment in a fusion facility.
The 35-day trial took place in UKAEA’s Joint European Torus (JET) facility, which until its recent scientific operational shutdown, was one of the largest and most powerful fusion research machines in the world.
UKAEA has announced the trial has successfully demonstrated that part of a fusion facility’s maintenance can be carried out by an autonomous robot, thus making such work safer for humans and more cost efficient for its operator.
‘The project aimed to validate the reliability of autonomous robotic technology and instil trust and confidence in their use for safe and efficient inspections in fusion facilities over extended periods,’ comments Dr Robert Skilton, Head of Research, at UKAEA’s Remote Applications in Challenging Environments division.
Such advancements pave the way for autonomous maintenance and decommissioning in future fusion facilities where human access may be limited owing to challenging conditions posed by radiation, vacuum-level pressure and extreme temperatures, UKAEA says.
JET provided the opportunity to test ORI’s autonomy platform ‘AutoInspect’ controlling a Boston Dynamics Spot quadruped robot in an environment still hazardous after two high-powered deuterium-tritium experiments in the space of three years.
‘This deployment demonstrates that autonomous robots can enhance safety and cut costs. These “next generation” solutions are becoming ready to be used in other industrial facilities such as nuclear decommissioning, environmental clean-up, and disaster relief,’ Dr Skilton continues.
The inspection tasks within JET involved mapping the entire facility, taking sensor readings of its environment, and avoiding obstacles and personnel involved in the decommissioning process.
This integrated robotic system collected essential data on JET’s environment and overall status twice a day. This allowed the team to assess the feasibility of replacing human inspections with fully autonomous processes.
Nick Hawes, Professor of AI & Robotics, University of Oxford, notes: ‘Projects like this demonstrate the value of autonomous robots – robots that can do things themselves without direct control of humans. They also ground our science in real use cases, and provide requirements and constraints that drive us to invent new AI and robotics algorithms.’
