Boston Dynamics’ innovative robot dog, Spot, recently took on a hazardous mission—searching for radiation at the notorious Chernobyl nuclear disaster site.
The data Spot takes in is being used to create 3D heat maps of the site, and to track the damaging effects of electromagnetic waves in the area, by a team of University of Bristol researchers. Not only will the project improve the accuracy of nuclear readouts of the site—it will also be used as a testbed for robotic platform design for the broader nuclear energy industry.
Spot’s work has focused on the Unit 4 reactor—the very reactor that malfunctioned and triggered a meltdown in 1986. That facility is currently encased in what’s known as the New Safe Confinement (NSC) structure designed to contain the shattered reactor’s highly dangerous materials: radioactive dust, uranium and plutonium, as well as “200 tons of radioactive lava.”
The robot dog’s work will help researchers assess the state of those materials—which will have to be addressed sooner or later. To do that work, Spot comes equipped with five sensor modules located on every side of the robot, allowing it to analyze the space all around it. In addition, the researchers added a collimated radiation sensor—a type of sensor used to determine the direction of electromagnetic radiation with much more precision than standard optical sensors can, and which is often used in nuclear power stations.
The researchers used the gamma photon count rate from the collimated sensor to create this heat map:
“We actually built a map of the radiation coming out of the front wall of Chernobyl power plant as we were in there with it,” said Dave Megson-Smith, a member of the University of Bristol’s team who specializes in sensor development.
Currently, weekly radiation readings are taken of the NSC and the surrounding area by human investigators, potentially putting them at risk. A robot would be an ideal replacement, taking on dangerous assignments instead of putting people in harmful situations.
One of Spot’s design advantages is that, because it moves on four legs, it is much more nimble and able to handle obstacles and uneven terrain than a wheeled robot. But in the case of Chernobyl, a robotic dog has an additional—and essential—feature. Its relatively small feet reduce contact with potentially irradiated material—particularly dust. “If you use a legged system rather than a wheeled or tracked system, you have a much smaller footprint and you disturb the environment a lot less,” said Megson-Smith. In fact, it was one of the primary reasons the Boston Dynamics technology was chosen for the job.
Perhaps surprisingly, though, resistance to radiation isn’t a major factor for the industry. “We were thinking that we’d have to make robots incredibly radiation proof to go into these contaminated environments,” said Megson-Smith. But industry partners have instead asked for systems that they can send into areas where human employees currently go—but where companies don’t want them to go anymore.
But while the robot has its benefits, there are limitations that will need to be overcome. While Spot can function autonomously, it has a running time of only about 90 minutes before it needs a recharge or a battery swap. It also comes at a hefty price: around $74,000 per unit.
However, it’s clear that robots will have a role to play in the future of the site. “Ultimately, Chernobyl has to be taken apart and decommissioned. That’s the long-term plan for the facility. To do that, you first need to understand everything, which is where we come in with our sensor systems and robotic platforms,” said Megson-Smith. “Since there are entire swathes of the Chernobyl nuclear plant where people can’t go in, we’d need robots like Spot to do those environmental characterizations.”
Read more about Boston Dynamics’ innovative robotics work at Boston Dynamics Is Bringing Its Legged Robots to Hospitals.