National Centre for Nuclear Robotics (NCNR)

核设施需要各种各样的机器人能力，这带来了各种极端的RAI挑战。NCNR汇集了机器人、人工智能、传感器、辐射和弹性嵌入式系统方面的不同专家联盟，以解决这些复杂的问题。在高伽马环境中，人类根本不可能进入。在阿尔法污染的环境中，空气喂养的西装人类进入是可能的，但会产生大量的二次废物(受污染的西装)，并降低工人的能力。我们有责任消除人类进入技术可能的任何地方的危险环境的需要。因此，核机器人通常将远离人类控制器，为先进的远程呈现创造重要的机会。然而，有限的带宽和态势感知要求机器人具有更高的智能和自主控制能力，特别是在执行复杂操作时。共享控制，其中人类和人工智能都协作控制机器人，这将是至关重要的，因为i)安全关键环境需要人在循环中，然而ii)复杂的远程操作对人类来说太难可靠和有效地执行。在退役开始之前，当它正在进行时，需要表征。这可以包括场景的3D建模、物体和材料的检测和识别以及污染物的检测、辐射类型和水平的测量以及其他传感方式，如热成像。这就需要新的传感器设计，先进的机器人感知算法，以及新型机器人将传感器部署到难以到达的位置。要进行远程干预，无论是对远程人类操作员的态势感知，还是对自主/半自主机器人动作的指导，都需要实时多模式视觉和传感，包括：物体和场景的实时3D建模和语义理解；动态场景中的主动视觉和视觉导航和操作。核工业是高度后果、安全关键和保守的。因此，严格评估操作员控制远程技术以安全高效地执行行业要求的任务的能力至关重要。所有NCNR研究都将由一组行业定义的用例WP1驱动。每个用例都与行业定义的测试环境和WP11中性能评估的验收标准相关联。WP2-9提供了各种RAI基础研究，包括抗辐射硬件、机器人和辐射传感器的新设计、先进的视觉和感知算法、移动性和导航、抓取和操纵、多模式临场感和共享控制。该项目基于模块化设计原则。WP10制定了模块化和模块接口的标准，WPs2-9提供的各种机器人、传感和人工智能模块将满足这一标准。然后，WP10将把多个模块集成到一组预商用机器人平台上，然后根据WP11的最终用户接受标准进行评估。WP12致力于技术转让，与众多行业合作伙伴和专门从事RAI技术风险资本投资的Shield Investment Fund合作，将新想法带到完全成熟的商业部署中。Shield拥有1000万GB的资金与NCNR Hub的所有研究一起运行，为衍生公司和Hub IP的工业化提供资金。我们有丰富的国际参与，包括NASA喷气推进实验室和卡内基甜瓜国家机器人工程中心作为美国的合作者，以及日本原子能机构的合作，帮助我们在奈良市远程技术开发中心独特的福岛模拟测试设施中进行NCNR机器人的测试部署。

Nuclear facilities require a wide variety of robotics capabilities, engendering a variety of extreme RAI challenges. NCNR brings together a diverse consortium of experts in robotics, AI, sensors, radiation and resilient embedded systems, to address these complex problems.In high gamma environments, human entries are not possible at all. In alpha-contaminated environments, air-fed suited human entries are possible, but engender significant secondary waste (contaminated suits), and reduced worker capability. We have a duty to eliminate the need for humans to enter such hazardous environments wherever technologically possible.Hence, nuclear robots will typically be remote from human controllers, creating significant opportunities for advanced telepresence. However, limited bandwidth and situational awareness demand increased intelligence and autonomous control capabilities on the robot, especially for performing complex manipulations. Shared control, where both human and AI collaboratively control the robot, will be critical because i) safety-critical environments demand a human in the loop, however ii) complex remote actions are too difficult for a human to perform reliably and efficiently.Before decommissioning can begin, and while it is progressing, characterization is needed. This can include 3D modelling of scenes, detection and recognition of objects and materials, as well as detection of contaminants, measurement of types and levels of radiation, and other sensing modalities such as thermal imaging. This will necessitate novel sensor design, advanced algorithms for robotic perception, and new kinds of robots to deploy sensors into hard-to-reach locations.To carry out remote interventions, both situational awareness for the remote human operator, and also guidance of autonomous/semi-autonomous robotic actions, will need to be informed by real-time multi-modal vision and sensing, including: real-time 3D modelling and semantic understanding of objects and scenes; active vision in dynamic scenes and vision-guided navigation and manipulation.The nuclear industry is high consequence, safety critical and conservative. It is therefore critically important to rigorously evaluate how well human operators can control remote technology to safely and efficiently perform the tasks that industry requires.All NCNR research will be driven by a set of industry-defined use-cases, WP1. Each use-case is linked to industry-defined testing environments and acceptance criteria for performance evaluation in WP11. WP2-9 deliver a variety of fundamental RAI research, including radiation resilient hardware, novel design of both robotics and radiation sensors, advanced vision and perception algorithms, mobility and navigation, grasping and manipulation, multi-modal telepresence and shared control.The project is based on modular design principles. WP10 develops standards for modularisation and module interfaces, which will be met by a diverse range of robotics, sensing and AI modules delivered by WPs2-9. WP10 will then integrate multiple modules onto a set of pre-commercial robot platforms, which will then be evaluated according to end-user acceptance criteria in WP11.WP12 is devoted to technology transfer, in collaboration with numerous industry partners and the Shield Investment Fund who specialise in venture capital investment in RAI technologies, taking novel ideas through to fully fledged commercial deployments. Shield have ring-fenced £10million capital to run alongside all NCNR Hub research, to fund spin-out companies and industrialisation of Hub IP.We have rich international involvement, including NASA Jet Propulsion Lab and Carnegie Melon National Robotics Engineering Center as collaborators in USA, and collaboration from Japan Atomic Energy Agency to help us carry out test-deployments of NCNR robots in the unique Fukushima mock-up testing facilities at the Naraha Remote Technology Development Center.