The nuclear energy sector can benefit from mobile robots for remote inspection and handling, reducing human exposure to radiation. Advances in cyber–physical systems have improved robotic platforms in this sector through digital twin (DT) technology. DTs enhance situational awareness for robot operators, crucial for safety in the nuclear energy sector, and their value is anticipated to increase with the growing complexity of cyber–physical systems. The primary motivation of this work is to rapidly develop and evaluate a robot fleet interface that accounts for these benefits in the context of nuclear environments. Here, we introduce a multimodal immersive DT platform for cyber–physical robot fleets based on the ROS‐Unity 3D framework. The system design enables fleet monitoring and management by integrating building information models, mission parameters, robot sensor data, and multimodal user interaction through traditional and virtual reality interfaces. A modified heuristic evaluation approach, which accounts for the positive and negative aspects of the interface, was introduced to accelerate the iterative design process of our DT platform. Robot operators from leading nuclear research institutions (Sellafield Ltd. and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency) performed a simulated robot inspection mission while providing valuable insights into the design elements of the cyber–physical system. The three usability themes that emerged and inspired our design recommendations for future developers include increasing the interface's flexibility, considering each robot's individuality, and adapting the platform to expand sensor visualization capabilities.

中文翻译：

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适用于核环境中网络物理机器人舰队的多模态沉浸式数字孪生平台

核能行业可以受益于用于远程检查和处理的移动机器人，从而减少人类接触辐射的机会。网络物理系统的进步通过数字孪生（DT）技术改进了该领域的机器人平台。 DT 增强了机器人操作员的态势感知，这对于核能领域的安全至关重要，并且随着信息物理系统的复杂性不断增加，其价值预计也会增加。这项工作的主要动机是快速开发和评估机器人车队接口，以在核环境背景下实现这些优势。在这里，我们介绍了一个基于 ROS‐Unity 3D 框架的用于网络物理机器人车队的多模式沉浸式 DT 平台。该系统设计通过传统和虚拟现实界面集成建筑信息模型、任务参数、机器人传感器数据和多模式用户交互，从而实现车队监控和管理。引入了一种改进的启发式评估方法，该方法考虑了界面的积极和消极方面，以加速我们的 DT 平台的迭代设计过程。来自领先核研究机构（塞拉菲尔德有限公司和日本原子能机构）的机器人操作员执行了模拟机器人检查任务，同时为网络物理系统的设计元素提供了宝贵的见解。出现的三个可用性主题激发了我们为未来开发人员提供设计建议，包括提高界面的灵活性、考虑每个机器人的个性以及调整平台以扩展传感器可视化功能。