SARESE

Symbiotic Autonomous Robotic Ecosystem for Sustainable Environments (SARESE) is a groundbreaking collaboration between The University of Manchester, the University of Glasgow, and the Bristol Robotics Laboratory/University of the West of England. The project focuses on advancing robotic cyber-physical systems and digital twins for critical mission environments.

Originally launched as a virtual collaboration during the COVID-19 pandemic, the project team convened in August 2022 for a five-day technical sprint at the RAICo1 Facility in Whitehaven, West Cumbria, UK. This intensive sprint involved more than 30 engineers and researchers working to implement a fleet of robots and their digital twins in a simulated nuclear facility environment.

As a postdoctoral researcher, I led my sub-group in the development and integration of digital twins for each robotic platform and the primary environment. After the technical sprint, I continued improving the user interface by developing a package based on the ROS-Unity framework. This included implementing various interface modes, such as a default flat-screen environment and a virtual reality environment, to improve situational awareness.

As part of my research, I conducted a comprehensive user study (heuristic evaluation) involving nuclear robot operators from Sellafield in the UK and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The findings of this study were published in the tier-1 Journal of Field Robotics (Wiley). Additionally, I provided technical project management support to the team and served as the Scrum Master during the technical sprints, ensuring effective coordination and task execution.