Work Package 5 – Demonstrators

Showcasing next-generation solutions in a range of cyber-physical environments leading to the deployment of robotic platforms in the real world.

WP5 aims to advance robotics systems to alleviate humans from dangerous and repetitive tasks. Its two main goals are to showcase novel CRADLE robotic technologies and to develop methods for matching robots to various tasks. To achieve this, WP5 is creating RoboAlchemy, a groundbreaking software designed to address these challenges effectively.

REQUIREMENTS AND BENCHMARKING ANALYSIS

Requirements analysis is essential for defining and formalizing the exact needs for a robot to complete a task. To evaluate how well a robot’s components meet these requirements, a comprehensive scoring system is being developed. This system will assess the effectiveness of each component in addressing specific aspects of the task, ensuring that the robot’s capabilities are aligned with the task’s demands and facilitating informed decision-making for optimal robotic performance.

DESIGN TOOLCHAINS

The design toolchain, RoboAlchemy, integrates task and environment requirements to identify the most suitable robot functionalities and components. By analysing these factors comprehensively, RoboAlchemy ensures that every system element is considered. This approach enables the identification of optimal configurations, streamlining the design process and enhancing the efficiency of robotic systems. Through its thorough matching and recommendation functionalities, RoboAlchemy supports the creation of highly effective and tailored robotic solutions.

SIMULATED ENVIRONMENTS

A key element of RoboAlchemy is the simulation plugin. As the first stage of verification, RoboAlchemy simulates its proposed robot undertaking the given tasks in Isaac Sim. This allows users to visualize and assess the robot’s performance in a controlled, virtual environment before real-world implementation. The simulation helps identify potential issues, optimize task execution, and ensure the robot’s capabilities align with task requirements, enhancing the overall reliability and effectiveness of the solution.

CYBER-PHYSICAL MISSION ENVIRONMENTS

Cyber-Physical Mission Environments integrate physical robots with virtual simulations to enhance mission planning and execution. By combining real-world robotic capabilities with advanced digital environments, these systems allow for comprehensive testing and optimization. In RoboAlchemy, this approach enables precise modelling of tasks and scenarios, ensuring that robots are thoroughly evaluated before deployment. This fusion of physical and virtual elements ensures that robots can perform reliably and effectively in complex, real-world conditions.

Updates

Research Spotlight – Dr Christopher Bishop and Toluwani Soboyejo

RoboAlchemy is a software platform designed to match robots with tasks and recommend necessary components for new functionalities. Users can describe a task to receive a list of suitable robots, or if none are found, RoboAlchemy will suggest the required hardware and software components. Conversely, users can input a robot to get a list of tasks it can perform. The system relies on ontologies developed through WP5 research to ensure accurate and effective matching. RoboAlchemy has the potential to greatly streamline robotics workflows and facilitate innovation in the field by providing actionable insights and recommendations.

Team Updates

Dr Moh Shahid Khan joined the team in September 2025 to undertake research into advanced digital environments using the NVIDIA Omniverse suite of tools. He’ll be working on process pipelines to efficiently develop Omniverse simulation environments from realworld robot scan data, then collaborating with WP4 to explore how high-fidelity simulation environments can be used in a Corroborative Verification and Validation (CV&V) framework. Sharun Arumugam and Yehoshua Greenhaus joined the WP5 team in April 2025. Sharun’s PhD research is on “Grasping Rover for In-orbit Servicing and Inspection” under the supervision of Prof Kate Smith, Dr Ben Parslew and Prof Simon Watson. Yehoshua has joined from Amentum to do research on “Aerial Deployed Surface Vehicles” under the supervision of Dr Kieran Wood and Prof Simon Watson.

Student Support

MEng student project “Inchtinuum: Inspection Robot for Complex Confined Spaces” has been completed, with knowledge transferred to the Amentum robotics team. A second CRADLE-sponsored MEng project, developing autonomous litter-picking robots to support WP2 researchers, has also begun.

Explore Work Packages

WP 1 Components

WP2 Architectures

WP3 Interactions

WP4 Assurance

WP5 Demonstrators