Robotics in extreme environments

The Birmingham Extreme Robotics Lab (ERL) is Europe’s most prominent university lab dedicated to nuclear and other extreme environment applications of advanced robotics and AI.

Birmingham ERL researchers developed the state-of-the-art algorithms and control methods which recently achieved the first ever deployments in history of autonomous robots in nuclear sites (AI-controlled, vision-guided grasping of inactive waste materials at NNL Workington in 2016, and AI-controlled, vision-guided robotic laser-cutting of contaminated metal inside a real radioactive hot-cell at NNL Preston in 2017).

Latest news: University of Birmingham secures funding for National Centre for Nuclear Robotics

The challenge

Our projects

Our robotics and AI technologies

New National Centre for Nuclear Robotics

Also in 'Research'

• Birmingham – a top research university
• Our Research Institutes and Centres
• Our Research Institutes and Centres
• Strategic Research Development
• Our role in combating COVID-19
• Research jobs
• Funding and awards
• Our Research Environment and Culture
• Heroes
• Our impact
• Partners and collaborators
• Histories of a Global University: Exploring Empire at the University of Birmingham
• Index
• Public affairs home
• University of Birmingham and Climate Change research
• Quest
• Research Facilities
• Research integrity
• Research news
• Spotlights
• The Centre for Material Cultures and Materialities