Robot dog inspects nuclear fusion reactor in world first

If there’s one job where people would be happy to trade places with robots, it’s this.

A fully autonomous robot – a Boston Dynamics-made Spot – was deployed to carry out maintenance work at the UK’s experimental nuclear fusion facility in Oxfordshire.

The 35-day trial at the Joint European Torus (JET) reactor marked the first time a fully autonomous robot was used for such a task, according to the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).

“The project aimed to validate the reliability of autonomous robotic technology and instill trust and confidence in their use for safe and efficient inspections in fusion facilities over extended periods,” said Dr. Robert Skilton, head of research at the UKAEA.

Fusion power plants will need regular maintenance, a job that could be hazardous for humans and not always possible due to radiation, vacuum-level pressure, and extreme temperatures at such facilities.

In what it described as “a step towards the commercial viability of fusion energy,” the UKAEA said that using robots is also expected to be more cost-efficient for operators.

“This deployment demonstrates that autonomous robots can enhance safety and cut costs,” Dr. Skilton said.

“These ‘next generation’ solutions are becoming ready to be used in other industrial facilities such as nuclear decommissioning, environmental clean-up, and disaster relief,” he said.

If the remaining challenges can be overcome, fusion power could potentially provide humanity with a clean and almost inexhaustible source of energy generated through a process that mimics the Sun.

Started 40 years ago, JET was one of the largest and most powerful fusion research machines in the world, setting a world record for the energy output of a fusion reactor before it was shut down for good last year.

The inspection tasks carried out by the Spot robot dog in the facility involved mapping the entire premises, taking sensor readings of its environment, and avoiding obstacles and personnel involved in the decommissioning process.

Prof. Nick Hawes, of the University of Oxford, said: “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,” he said.