Hot Robotics Facility
The facility is arranged across three regional nodes with four research partners.
© University of Bristol
UKAEA - RACE Facility
Credit: UKAEA
Remote Applications in Challenging Environments, Oxfordshire
RACE forms the primary NNUF-HR hub where a large array of robots and mock-ups are housed. Additional functionality is provided through 'hot' test capabilities and portable solutions.
Collaboration with academia and industry is facilitated by RACE's proximity to Harwell, AWE and a multitude of academic institutions.
University of Bristol
© University of Bristol
Fenswood Facility, North Somerset
The University of Bristol's facility will provide substantial space for developing mobile robotic applications as enhanced tools for environmental field surveying.
Its main capabilities will focus on UAVs and mobile ground vehicles and it offers 245 acres of space for test deployments.
University of Manchester
© University of Manchester
Dalton Cumbrian Facility
Located at the centre of the UK’s nuclear industry in West Cumbria, this facility provides mock-ups and robotic equipment to enable researchers to address nuclear decommissioning challenges.
Specific capabilities include a pond equipped with an underwater position system, robotic manipulators and a variety of mobile robots.
National Nuclear Laboratory
© National Nuclear Laboratory
Workington Facility, Cumbria
NNL’s facility comprises of equipment and flexible floorspace to develop, test, and demonstrate robotic solutions for the nuclear industry.
The research test rigs available at the NNL Workington Laboratory will be on an industrial scale, acting as a link between low TRL robotics research and technology progression to TRL 9. (For more information, please see the NNL page on this website).
The University of Manchester Hot Robotics Facility is open.
The RACE Hot Robotics Facility will be open from July 2021.
The University of Bristol Hot Robotics Facility will be open from July 2021.
The NNL Hot Robotics Facility will be open from July 2021.
In the interim and despite the COVID situation, users can access a selection of equipment offsite from UKAEA and the University of Bristol. The selection of equipment is reduced but will progressively increase over time. To view the current available equipment, please see below:
RACE brochure:
For any enquiries please contact nnuf-hr@race.ukaea.uk.
University of Bristol brochure:
For any enquiries please contact nnuf-hr@bristol.ac.uk.
University of Manchester brochure:
For any enquiries please contact nnuf-hr@manchester.ac.uk.
NNL brochure:
For any enquiries, please contact nnuf-hr@uknnl.com.
5th round of NNUF funded user access scheme
The Hot Robotics Facility is participating in the 5th NNUF access scheme call, for which applications close on 31st August 2021. In most cases this call covers access commencing in the period October – December 2021 (and this is true for the Hot Robotics Facilities at RACE, Manchester and Bristol). However to allow time for any security clearance that might be required to access NNL’s Hot Robotics Facility, experimental time at NNL's premises which is awarded under the 5th call can commence any time between October 2021 and March 2022.
