BT on Monday announced the opening of a 5000+ sq. ft. robotics research facility at the BT Labs, Suffolk, which aims to place the UK at the forefront of a new era of robotics development for telecoms and civil engineering.
The facility will play a key role in developing innovative robotics solutions to speed the deployment of essential infrastructure, working with the university sector and other utilities to trial a new range of UK-developed robotics which are applicable to telecoms and utility sector civil engineering challenges worldwide.
The lab is the first dedicated telecoms civil engineering robotics test facility in the UK, designed to help BT engage with the university sector and robotics startups as they develop robotic solutions to challenging civil engineering tasks. This includes addressing problems such as how to clear out blocked ducts, mend collapsed ducts and install new fibre network infrastructure without incurring the cost and delays that come with digging up roads and pavements.
New robotic locomotion and excavation techniques inspired by digging and burrowing mammals and insects, coupled with the latest technologies developed for space exploration, aerospace and medical applications are showing real promise for delivering so-called ‘trenchless’ infrastructure deployment. Magnetic, climbing and cable-traversing robotic techniques are also maturing, enabling proof-of-concept trials on wireless tower and overhead cable poles.
It is expected that the test lab will play an important role in supporting BT’s fibre programme, as well as facilitating collaboration with other utilities such as power and water companies as they roll out and update their underground and overhead networks.
The site is a unique indoor facility that will enable research teams to trial the latest innovations in robotics within a variety of test zones.
Professor Tim Whitley, BT’s MD of Research
The UK is a hotbed of civil engineering innovation, with a thriving university ecosystem and an enviable robotics startup sector. Our aim is to bring those players together in a dedicated facility to develop solutions that make the UK a world leader in telecoms civil engineering robotics. The lab will provide a hub for the creation of solutions to real world challenges and pioneering applications of robots, reinforcing the UK’s position at the heart of research and innovation into advanced technologies.
