Deployed in former nuclear power stations such as Sellafield to keep human workers out of radioactive environments, robotic arms have a wide number of potential applications. They are complex and can be mentally taxing to operate, however, taking a lot of time and requiring highly trained human operators.
The UK’s decommissioning programme, led by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), hopes to expand the use of robotic arms for remote handling, from small manipulators that prepare samples for study to industrial arms for waste sorting.
Now, the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Collaboration (RAICo), including the NDA, the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), Sellafield Ltd, the University of Manchester and AWE Nuclear Security Technologies, has developed a new digital twin in-the-loop (DTIL) technology to simplify robotic operation, enable a wider range of operators and expand their use on decommissioning sites.
“The DTIL technology is a mediation layer between the operator and robot that can assist the operator to work more safely and efficiently,” said Robert Howell, advanced robotic control lead at RAICo.
Developed with simulation and robotic control specialist Toia, the technology introduces a digital mediator on the signals being sent between a handheld controller and a robotic arm. As the digital mediator relays instructions to a robot, it can automatically adjust them to reflect ‘likely human intent’. If an operator moves a robot too close to a wall for example, or releases an item at the wrong time, the mediator can automatically adjust those control signals to prevent it from actually happening.
“By assisting operators and designing out risk of human error, this dramatically reduces the level of training needed to use a robot,” Howell said. “That means a wider range of decommissioning professionals can benefit from what robots have to offer, which in turn means remote handling tasks like waste sorting can get done far more quickly.”
The work is a first step towards ‘intent-based operations’, the partners added, in which users specify an action and the digital mediator creates the robot control instructions to complete it.
AWE Nuclear Security Technologies will be among the first to use the new system. “We’re very interested in the digitally mediated safety features,” said Luke Ankers, team leader for robotics and smart technologies.
“This could mean we can rapidly expand the use of robotics for decommissioning – and so keep our people safer – without the costs and limitations of having to train up and depend on a pool of dedicated remote handling operators.”
Other benefits could include making it easier to integrate new input devices, such as haptic controllers. This usually requires months of complex modelling, the partners said, but the DTIL system could enable creation of a software interface within days.
The mediation layer could also be implemented into training simulators, where it would replicate the experience of controlling real systems. “Training often feels different to real systems because the training software uses a VR (virtual reality) approximation of the real environment. With DTIL, the same control systems are used for the virtual and real environments, so training reflects reality,” a RAICo announcement said.
UKAEA’s Materials Research Facility is exploring how it can improve precision control of a six-axis robot for dextrous tasks, using DTIL to implement improved user interfaces with assistive guidance, simulated viewing systems and failsafes.
Nuclear Restoration Services, meanwhile, is exploring DTIL as a platform to train new users in remote handling using a simulation that accurately reflects the realities of robotics control.
The advanced nuclear sector is entering a defining period, with major progress now being made across SMRs, AMRs and fusion both in the UK and internationally. Learn more at Advanced Nuclear Reactor Design 2026, taking place in Manchester from 7-8 October. Book your pass now.
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