Robotic ‘dogs’ arrive at Dounreay

A ‘pack’ of robotic ‘dogs’ have been harnessed to help Dounreay with monitoring work on site.

Spot, a robotic quadruped (‘dog’) and his pack of robotic dogs from Boston Dynamics, has the ability to climb stairs, avoid obstacles, and move over rough ground, allowing it to monitor and collect data in hazardous areas.

Dounreay and Createc, the systems integrator for Spot, are working together on a series of seven use cases for the ROV, that will be carried out over the next 12 months. A dedicated Createc employee will be based on site to initially lead the projects, and will train Dounreay staff to use the robot.

Heather Fairweather is the innovation team’s project manager for the work. She says that the use cases will demonstrate the multi-tasking value of the ROV, and its ability to carry out practical work.

She says: “Spot is not just a gimmick; it’s a practical tool that we can use to survey and monitor in areas where people should not or cannot go.

“We are investigating all the ways that we can use the ROV so that we can get the most out of it.

“I believe that this is the way forward where operators can minimise their dose rates but still get the job done. It’s not to replace operators, but to help them.”

Spot has been deployed at sites across the NDA estate, with the NDA co-funding the work at Dounreay to help deliver benefit from the innovation groupwide.

The work at Dounreay complements and builds on the recent deployment of Spot at Sellafield, demonstrating how learning is being shared across sites to deliver better outcomes, move people further away from harm and decommission more efficiently.

Spot’s next trial will be to use LIDAR (also known as 3-d laser scanning) to create an external survey of the site’s facilities.

Watch the video here.

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