The Use of Digital Twins for Robotic Inspection, Maintenance and Repair
The use of robots and AI represents the future of critical infrastructure inspection, repair and maintenance. Through the ISCF’s ‘Robots for a Safer World’ scheme, four world-leading research hubs; FAIRSPACE, NCNR, ORCA and RAIN, have been developing solutions for use in hazardous and challenging environments, such as those found in the nuclear, offshore and space sectors.
Significant research has been undertaken across the Hubs in the use of digital twins as part of robotic inspections. To maximise the impact of this research, a new cross-hub initiative has been launched on ‘Digital Twins and Digital Tissue for Robotic Inspections, Maintenance and Repair’.
As well as enabling the sharing of state-of-the-art research between the hubs and fostering a collaborative community, it is also allowing researchers to continue their research during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.
For example, NCNR researchers from the University of Lincoln have been able to control a mobile robot from the RAIN Hub at the University of Oxford. Teams from the University of Manchester are working to control a mobile robot from the ORCA Hub at Heriot-Watt University as well as robot manipulators from the FAIRSPACE Hub at the University of Edinburgh.
This video showcases some of the cutting-edge research which forms the foundation of the cross-hub initiative.