Service robots for nuclear safety: new developments by CYBERNETIX

As nuclear power plants age, maintenance tasks become more critical and more dangerous. In most Western countries today, and perhaps even more in the former East Block, nuclear safety management becomes a major issue. In the next couple of years, strategic decisions have to be made regarding nuclear waste management and dismantling of old equipment. Sadly, most of the dirty work is still done by humans and not by robots. The robotics community has achieved many breakthroughs in the last decade, thanks to the progress of computing power, but their impact has been small in the domain of nuclear intervention. Radiation tolerance implies heavy shielding, which in turn reduces the flexibility of the machine. Looking ahead and striving for a better world, CYBERNETIX has been bringing together the latest advances in radiation-hard electronics, spread-spectrum transmissions and telecontrol technology, onto a single, modular, mobile platform. We present the state of the project and point out the many innovations which have been necessary. We conclude with a short survey of the market, and a tentative glimpse in the future.