The University of Bristol aims to make robotics, drones and testing spaces available for nuclear researchers as it introduces four ‘Hot Robotics’ facilities in the UK.
The National Nuclear User Facility for Hot Robotics (NNUF-HR) will be available for both academia and industry, facilitating the study and development of technology for the nuclear sector.
Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the four NNUF-HR sites are managed by the individual partners and are strategically dispersed across the UK.
The University of Bristol’s Fenswood Facility in Somerset; the RACE (Remote Applications in Challenging Environments) at UKAEA (UK Atomic Energy Authority) Facility at Culham in Oxfordshire, The University of Manchester’s RAICo One in Whitehaven and the National Nuclear Laboratory’s (NNL) Workington Facility in Cumbria, will make up the NNUF-HR sites.
Each facility provides technology and test spaces, as well as technical support, that the University said would otherwise be very difficult – or very expensive – to access. At the different sites, users can hire equipment, including quadruped robots and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to use on-site or at their own locations. They can also bring their own technology to test in different simulated environments and mock-up rigs.
The University of Bristol’s Fenswood facility is designed to provide substantial space for developing mobile robotic applications and enhanced tools for environmental field surveying. Its main capabilities focus on UAVs and mobile ground vehicles. It offers 245 acres of space for testing the deployment of drone and ground robots.
Professor Tom Scott, NNUF-HR academic lead from the University of Bristol, said: “The aim of this initiative is to provide the UK nuclear research and development community with better equipment and facilities. As someone who has worked in the field for many years, the fact we now have these four fantastic facilities and a website where users can actually select from a wide range of cutting-edge equipment to hire, I would say this is truly a game-changer for the industry.
“I’m delighted the Fenswood Facility here at Bristol is now available to Hot Robotics users. The amount of ground and air space we have available for test deployments is a fantastic resource to complement the wide range of robotic equipment and sensor systems on offer.”
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