News archive
National Nuclear User Facility for Hot Robotics
The National Nuclear User Facility for Hot Robotics (NNUF-HR) is an EPSRC funded programme. It assists UK academia and industry to deliver ground-breaking, impactful research into the use of robotics and AI in extreme environments, by providing opportunities to access cutting-edge equipment and expertise. The aim of the NNUF-HR is to support the UK ambition ...
ITER Robotics Test Facility videos available
The ITER Robotics Test Facility (IRTF), hosted at RACE, is a technical collaboration between ITER Organisation and UKAEA. The first Implementation Agreement (IA) was signed off in 2017 and there are now a number of completed, in progress and planned projects. Find out more with our new series of IRTF videos. IA1 GEPP mock-up This ...
The August RACE newsletter is now available
In this newsletter we look back at what RACE has been doing over the past months. It has been an interesting time and where possible work has continued as normal. All of the activities listed were carried out in line with the relevant Covid-19 guidelines. This newsletter includes: RACE puts Spot through its paces 8,000 ...
ITER Hot Cell Industry Event
The ITER Hot Cell is vital to the success of what will be the world’s largest fusion reactor. Fulfilling the requirements, when they are released, will take a collaborative effort from large organisations, specialist SMEs and research institutes. In October UKAEA are hosting an event on Zoom to discuss the issues that will need to ...
Visit RACE to see CorteX live
On 11th September RACE are offering the chance to see a live demonstration of CorteX at their facility in Culham, Oxfordshire. There will also be opportunities to discuss its future development, and potential for wider, non-fusion, applications, with RACE technical staff. CorteX is the robotics communication and control platform developed by RACE for remote operations ...
New ITER Robotics Test Facility project starts
RACE has received the equipment that will be used as part of the IRTF IA5 project. Slightly delayed due to the Covid-19 restrictions, IA5 will demonstrate the feasibility of using remote handling to manoeuvre a mock-up of the ITER Test Blanket Module. In future fusion reactors, blanket modules will be used to produce or ‘breed’ ...
CorteX – Remote control of TARM
CorteX, RACE’s in-house robotics control platform, is built around a self-describing protocol which contains both the data in the system and supporting meta-data. The structure of the data is similar to that found in other robot control platforms, such as the Robotic Operating System (ROS). In RACE’s interoperable solution, however, this data is complemented with ...
RACE puts SPOT through its paces
RACE has acquired two of Boston Dynamics’ SPOT robots. We talk with Oliver Huke, the RACE Robotics Test Facilities Manager, about the new arrivals. When did the SPOTs arrive? They arrived in June, although with the Covid restrictions it has taken longer than normal to unbox them. Did they require a lot of configuration? We ...
RACE begins next phase of ESS installation
On Monday 29th June, the RACE team started the next phase of their installation work on the Active Cells – a radioactive waste processing facility being delivered by RACE as part of the UK’s contribution to the European Spallation Source. “ESS” will be the most powerful neutron source in the world and is currently under ...
SPOT goes for a walk at UKAEA
Boston Dynamics has announced that their four-legged SPOT robot is now available to purchase. To mark the occasion, they have released a new video, which includes a clip of the robot walking through UKAEA’s In-Vessel Training Facility – a mock up of the JET reactor on the Culham site. UKAEA’s RACE has two SPOT on ...
