By Scott Wright

A ROBOT with “telexistence” is to be deployed by an Edinburgh-based research facility to study how the technology can support humans in hazardous conditions such as inspecting offshore oil and gas facilities and disaster recovery zones.

The £60,000 robot, part of the Spot range developed by Boston Dynamics, will be used in a range of experiments by the researchers at the National Robotarium, based at Heriot-Watt University. It will be fitted with “telexistence”, allowing humans to experience environments without physically being there by using devices such as microphones and cameras to relay sound and videos.

Yvan Petillot, professor or robotics and autonomous systems at Heriot-Watt, and co-academic lead of the National Robotarium, said: “Fitting this robot with our telexistence technology means we can carry out a range of experiments. We can test how the robot can help and support people working in hazardous environments, including oil and gas platforms and oil refineries.

“In search and rescue operations or following accidents, Spot robots fitted with our sensors could monitor a casualty’s vital signs and transmit images and sounds back to a hospital, allowing doctors to offer advice on treatment or decide when it’s safe to move a patient. Robots of this design can climb over rubble, walk up and down stairs, and cope with hazards like dust and rain. These features will prove very useful as we develop more ways to ensure robots can help keep people safe and save companies money.”

Sen Wang, associate professor at Heriot-Watt University and robotics and autonomous systems lead at the National Robotarium, said the first application will be in the construction industry. He said: “We are going to fit lidar to our robot, which is similar to radar but uses light instead of radio waves. That will allow the robot to build up a picture of its surroundings while spotting obstacles like rubble on construction sites.”

“Our Spot, however, is unique. We have set it up to be a moving data collector and data centre, equipped with advanced telepresence solutions. When we deploy it on construction sites, it will collect and measure in real time, relaying the data to multiple experts at once, all around the world. This means construction companies, regardless of their location, can benefit from worldwide expertise. Using Spot in this way has the potential to speed up the construction process, reduce costs of re-work, detect hazards, increase efficiency and improve quality control.”

Local school children, who fall under the Edinburgh & South East City Region Deal, will be given the chance to name the robot, which has already found fame for its dancing ability on YouTube.