AI-powered robots to work in environments too dangerous for humans

These new machines – set to carry out work too dangerous for humans - will be designed to think and act for themselves in hazardous places on Earth and beyond.  

‘Hot robotic’ systems were originally designed to work in radioactive environments in decommissioned nuclear reactors, but future assignments will include deployment in nuclear fusion plants, the offshore energy sector, agriculture and potentially outer space.

As part of an R&D programme to maintain UK leadership in robotic technologies, Manchester experts are applying AI technologies to ‘hot robotics’ as they will increasingly need to act independently of human operators as they enter a range of danger zones to carry out highly complex tasks.    

According to Manchester University, an important challenge in the nuclear industry is to improve robot autonomy so that the technology can be used to deliver safer, faster and cheaper decommissioning of legacy power stations and other radioactive facilities.

To support this task, the Robotics and AI Collaboration (RAICo) has been established in Cumbria as a joint research programme between Manchester University, the UK Atomic Energy Agency (UKAEA), Sellafield Ltd, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and the National Nuclear Laboratory. The aim is to develop advanced robotic and AI solutions and transferring these to sites across the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s UK estate. RAICo will also provide a pilot for the development and application of robotic systems in other sectors.