The nuclear decommissioning team at Sellafield continues to find new ways of using Spot the robot dog: the quadruped robot has now successfully carried out swabbing, a vital task in monitoring radioactivity.
Swabbing is a common task at Sellafield. The health physics team carries out hundreds of swabs each day in contaminated areas. Using circular paper filters, these swabs monitor radiation levels across a range of surfaces, providing vital data that informs decommissioning strategies and ensures compliance with safety regulations.
To carry out the task, Spot was fitted with a specially designed, patent-pending contamination swabbing tool. Key to the tool’s design is its ability to replicate the complex and dextrous non-linear swabbing motion normally carried out by humans. This is possible due to the unique shape of the attachment, alongside an off-the-shelf haptic controller from Haply Robotics, and custom software, which captures an operator’s real-time hand movements and translates them into commands for Spot’s manipulator.
Simulated contamination
During the controlled deployment, Spot was sent into a restricted area to inspect a simulated radiological spill and take a physical swab from a mock-contaminated surface.
The robot used the new tool to swab the surface and bring back a sample of blue chalk, used to simulate the contamination. The robot completed the task successfully, showing that a process traditionally performed by humans could potentially be carried out remotely without compromising accuracy or safety.
The deployment was conceived and planned by Sellafield’s Remote Technology Group, which is responsible for evaluating and deploying robotics, AI and unmanned systems at the site.
The tool was developed through a collaboration between the UK Atomic Energy Authority, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), Sellafield Ltd and the wider NDA nuclear estate, the University of Manchester and AWE Nuclear Security Technologies.
