Boston Dynamics Robot Spot Visited ChNPP Again

A team from the University of Bristol (UK) once again visited ChNPP, where robotic devices to assess the radiation situation were tested. This is the fourth visit within the Memorandum of Understanding signed in early 2021 between the University of Bristol and the Institute for Safety Problems of Nuclear Power Plants of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.                   

This time, British researchers showed several robotic systems equipped with innovative sounding equipment developed by the University of Bristol in collaboration with the Oxford Robotics Institute Research Group under the RAIN project.

According to one of the Bristol engineers David Megson-Smith, their team has experience of cooperation with nuclear industry organizations in UK, however, such difficult external conditions as at ChNPP are a unique opportunity for them to test their technologies.

One of the devices used by Bristol experts is the world famous Spot robot dog developed by the Boston Dynamics.

The Spot’s specificity is that it can move through difficult terrains, step over obstacles, move along inclined surfaces and stairs, and also stand on its feet after overturning. The presence of a special platform to fix equipment on the robot back potentially allows its use for remote radiation reconnaissance.

On its return to UK, the forward-looking research team will analyze the collected data and provide the Ukrainian party with previously inaccessible, detailed and accurate maps informing on radiation distribution around the destroyed reactor.

According to the University of Bristol