Towards Zero Manual Intervention - 18358

As humanity reaches further we become more aware of our biological limitations. For some activities we are physically too big or too small, too strong or too weak or might be damaged in some way if we intervene directly. Whilst this is not a new phenomena, we are now starting to see the emergence of aspirations that demand a different approach because people cannot physically intervene. The example used within this paper is a fusion power plant which generates highly energetic 14.1 MeV neutrons that elevate radiation levels to prohibitive levels which preclude human access. For statutory and/or commercial reasons, inspection and maintenance is necessary and/or unavoidable in high risk or 'challenging environments'. These challenging environments occur in nuclear, space, petrochemicals and other complex industrial spaces. They also occur in adjacent markets where solutions must also achieve levels of usability, reliability and safety at an acceptable cost before widespread adoption is achieved. (authors)