Spatio-temporal mapping of nuclear facilities using mobile robots

Operations in dull, dirty, and dangerous conditions motivate robot deployment. Prior work has focused on short-term deployment of robotic systems for nuclear facility characterization and single-purpose applications. To make robotic systems ubiquitous in nuclear facility operations, they must both provide general purpose functionality and operate more reliably than traditional manual processes while still remaining cost effective. In order to resolve these challenges, Mach9 Robotics Inc. will develop a perception system for a mobile robot in order to prevent infrastructure failures by understanding how certain sensor attributes change over time. This intelligent mobile robot platform leverages onboard mapping technology to precisely position sensor information in order to detect changes corresponding to potential hazards. In Phase I, Mach9 will produce a robot that will (1) associate onboard data with a digital twin (the base 3D model of the facility, where information is stored) to localize that data, (2) extract instrument readings using onboard sensors, and (3) update and store these measurements in the digital twin to reflect changes. We will develop a custom perception payload containing radiological, visual, spatial, thermal, acoustic, and vibration sensors, integrated with an off-the-shelf mobile robot. As the robot traverses the environment, it generates a thematic map, overlaying quantitative metrics from onboard instrumentation onto the digital twin. Future work will address the commercialization and higher TRL of Mach9’s nuclear inspection software platform and will focus on real-world application and deployment. In Phase II, Mach9 intends to deploy the integrated sensor hardware system, along with multi-sensor inspection software, in an active nuclear power plant to demonstrate full system capability. The intelligent processing capabilities that we will develop will help identify hazards and risks early and reduce the safety and economic impacts of plant outages. Through the DOE SBIR program, we will develop commercial solutions to improve the safety and resilience of nuclear facilities by empowering inspectors with the best data and insights available.