Jack Loughran Mon 23 Sep 2024
Collected at: https://eandt.theiet.org/2024/09/23/autonomous-robot-inspects-fusion-facility-paving-way-safer-cheaper-maintenance
An autonomous robot has been used to inspect the inside of a fusion energy facility for the first time as part of efforts to make maintenance more cost-efficient and safer for humans.
The 35-day trial took place at the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s Joint European Torus (JET) facility, which until its recent scientific operational shutdown was one of the largest and most powerful fusion research machines in the world.
Researchers said the JET facility provided the ideal opportunity to test the ‘AutoInspect’ platform developed by the Oxford Robotics Institute. It used a robot developed by Boston Dynamics called ‘Spot’ to investigate an environment still hazardous after two high-powered deuterium-tritium experiments in the space of three years.
The facility consists of a tokamak fusion system with a doughnut-shaped vacuum chamber. It is in this chamber where, under the influence of extreme heat and pressure, gaseous hydrogen fuel became a plasma as part of the many tests carried out during its 40-year history. In the facility, temperatures could reach levels 10 times hotter than the centre of the Sun.
Full-scale fusion power plants will require regular maintenance, but traditionally, robotic inspections required humans to make decisions and to operate.
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
“The project aimed to validate the reliability of autonomous robotic technology and instil trust and confidence in their use for safe and efficient inspections in fusion facilities over extended periods,” said Dr Robert Skilton, a research lead at the Atomic Energy Authority.
The trial paves the way for autonomous maintenance and decommissioning in future fusion facilities where human access may be limited owing to challenging conditions posed by radiation, vacuum-level pressure and extreme temperatures.
Skilton said: “This deployment demonstrates that autonomous robots can enhance safety and cut costs. These ‘next generation’ solutions are becoming ready to be used in other industrial facilities such as nuclear decommissioning, environmental clean-up and disaster relief.”
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
The inspection tasks within JET included mapping the entire facility, taking sensor readings of its environment, and avoiding obstacles and personnel taking part in the decommissioning process.
This robotic system collected essential data on JET’s environment and overall status twice a day, which allowed the team to assess the feasibility of replacing human inspections with fully autonomous processes.
In December, scientists at JET performed the final fusion research experiments at the facility just over four decades after it delivered its first pulse on 25 June 1983. While operational, JET produced over 103,000 plasmas. The findings were considered key to the planning of the international fusion experiment ITER, and the demonstration fusion power plant DEMO currently being designed by the European fusion community.
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