Could AI robots soon inspect radioactive nuclear sites?

Computer scientists are developing a dedicated bimanual robot arm which will be mounted on a mobile platform

Robots battle in nuclear clean-up challenge

Five projects have been awarded a total of £8.5 million to develop robots that can tackle some of Sellafield’s most radioactive hotspots. The robots controlled by smart auto navigation systems made it through to the final stages from a shortlist of 15, each receiving up to £1.5 million to build prototype demonstrators for testing in a simulated […]

Robots run solar farm

Robots are helping to run a solar farm based in the grounds of a college in Northern Ireland. The 48kW complex in South West College, Enniskillen is using the robots to align the panels to catch the most sunlight. They run along the rails between the solar arrays and adjust their angle as the day […]

Ofgem awards £59.4m for network innovation projects

Ofgem has chosen 10 projects to receive a total funding of £59.4 million for innovation in transporting energy around Britain. It is part of the regulator’s three innovation competitions that aim to make the energy networks smarter, accelerate the development of low carbon energy and help consumers save money. Successful projects include developing robots to […]

Mobile robots help cut solar costs

A US robotics company has built “solar robots” that could cut the cost of energy from solar farms. The machines, built by California-based QBotix, are expected to cut costs by around 20%. The firm claims the “robots” are operated by a single battery that manages the rotation of up to 200 panels at a fraction […]

Robot energy managers on the way?

Professor Wolf Ketter explains why robot avatars could soon be helping you trade energy. But will they take over?

Exceedingly good efficiency is a piece of cake

Cutting energy use in industrial processes is a piece of cake if you automate. That’s according to Britain’s largest food producer Premier Foods. The makers of teatime favourite Mr Kipling’s cakes says it cut costs by making its Stoke factory more efficient. At the Automated Britain conference today in London, Premier Foods’ supply chain director […]