AtkinsRéalis and Sellafield have successfully trialled the remote operation of Spot the robot dog from a different location. They claim this is an industry-first milestone “that demonstrates the potential of virtual site access on nuclear licensed sites, safely and securely”.
BIMplus has documented AtkinsRéalis’ work with a customised Boston Dynamics’ quadrupedal robotic dog at Sellafield over the past two years. Spot has worked alongside employees to inspect areas, capture data and carry out tasks in hazardous areas. This latest trial successfully established secure networks and tested the ability to operate robots like Spot on site, remotely, from a location outside the site licence boundary.
AtkinsRéalis worked with Sellafield’s remote technology group in the months building up to the trial to put in place the necessary digital and cyber protocols to enable safe and secure operation. Pete Allport, head of remote technology at Sellafield, operated Spot from AtkinsRéalis’ immersive room in Whitehaven, live-streaming footage from a non-critical area on the site. Whitehaven is about 10 miles from the Sellafield site.
Richard Brook, technology solutions lead for decommissioning at AtkinsRéalis, said: “Sellafield has pioneered the adoption of technology across its operations, and this latest milestone is another step forward for the role of robotics in decommissioning. AtkinsRéalis is already using virtual site access in the delivery of major infrastructure programmes. This trial is a big step towards unlocking its benefits for nuclear-licensed sites without compromising safety or security.”
Application to other sites
AtkinsRéalis’ and Sellafield’s approach could be applied across other nuclear-licensed sites overseen by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
AtkinsRéalis’ Virtual Site Access won the Best Application of Technology at the Digital Construction Awards last year. It brings together industry-standard tools, technology and techniques alongside bespoke applications and technologies such as Spot, Microsoft HoloLens 2, Igloo Vision immersive spaces and cloud-based systems to deliver significant time, cost and carbon savings, as well reducing risks and aiding collaboration and global knowledge transfer.
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