Robotic dog trial at Sellafield paves way for remote site operations

AtkinsRéalis has been working with Sellafield Ltd’s remote technology group to deploy a customised Boston Dynamics Spot quadrupedal robotic ‘dog’ on site, working alongside employees to inspect areas, capture data and carry out tasks in hazardous areas.

The trial established highly secure networks and tested the ability to remotely operate robotics like Spot on site from outside the site license boundary.

In the months leading to the trial AtkinsRéalis worked with Sellafield Ltd’s remote technology group to establish the digital and cyber protocols that enabled safe and secure operation.

Pete Allport, head of remote technology at Sellafield, operated Spot from AtkinsRéalis’ immersive room in nearby Whitehaven, live-streaming footage from a non-critical area on the site.

AtkinsRéalis said it deploys this kind of virtual access for major construction projects to record and view footage across sophisticated and secure networks for teams across different locations, adding that it brings about time and cost savings by allowing off-site specialists to view data and make decisions to inform and speed up complex operations.