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A new snake-like inspection robot has been trialed at Dounreay to survey confined areas

A few years ago, the award-winning ‘Lyra’ robot had its debut in Dounreay’s redundant fuel cycle area laboratories, courtesy of a collaboration with the University of Manchester.   

Since then, the team has been working with the University of Nottingham to come up with a simple, inexpensive and potentially disposable robot that could access severely restricted areas that could not be reached by workers.

Fitted with a camera, lights and finger dosemeters to detect radiation, it was trialled in one of Dounreay’s redundant laboratories, to inspect the area under a turntable that dominates the cell.

The technology was developed in response to a challenge by Game Changers, an innovation programme which finds solutions for complex nuclear industry challenges.  ICE9 Robotics, who specialise in customising robots for use in hazardous areas, also supported the team from Nottingham University during the deployments at Dounreay.

NRS Dounreay project manager Jason Simpson and engineer Mark Crichton assisted with the development and active trials. 

Jason yesterday said:

Surveys of the area under the turntable will be very useful to us in planning the decommissioning strategy of the laboratory.

Mark added:

It’s been a pleasure to work with the team from Nottingham and help develop this from the initial prototype to the point where it was ready for deployment within an active environment.