Extending Spot’s capability with a Re-Vector manipulator

Concept

Replace Spot’s proprietary manipulator with a modular Re-Vector® robotic arm to create a highly capable, adaptable and supportable mobile manipulation platform for nuclear and hazardous industrial environments.

Spot provides mobility, access and remote presence

Quadruped robots such as Spot are capable mobile platforms. They can traverse uneven surfaces, climb stairs and enter areas that may be hazardous or difficult for personnel to access.

However, reaching the work area is only part of the problem. Inside industrial and nuclear facilities, inspection and intervention points are rarely positioned in clear line-of-sight. Pipework, ducting, shielding, structural steelwork and legacy plant create geometrically constrained environments where tools and sensors must reach around obstacles and into confined internal spaces.

Conventional robotic manipulators add some capability here, but their movement becomes increasingly constrained in crowded environments.

Turning Spot into a mobile task platform

Re-Vector significantly extends the operational capability of the quadruped platform. The robotic arm is able to reach through confined geometries, steer around obstacles and position tools and sensors precisely where they are needed without repeated repositioning of the mobile base. Much like a human arm reaching into a crowded space — but with greater angular freedom and reach — Re-Vector enables Spot to perform inspection, sensing and manipulation tasks that would otherwise be difficult or impossible.

What Re-Vector adds

• Confined-space reach through complex geometry
• High freedom of movement under geometric constraint
• Precision positioning of sensors and tools
• Reduced need to reposition the base platform
• Modular deployment of cameras, radiation probes, UT and NDT tooling
• Open ROS2-based software architecture
• Rapid integration of third-party sensors and tools
• Modular servicing and quick-swap replacement

A new kind of manipulator for mobile robotics

Unlike conventional serial manipulators, Re-Vector uses a distributed spherical motion architecture that maintains high dexterity throughout geometrically constrained workspaces.

The system is engineered specifically for hazardous industrial applications, combining:

• Industrial-grade stiffness and precision
• Modular architecture
• High power-to-weight performance
• ROS2 and MoveIt integration
• Configurable tooling and sensing payloads
• Reduced lifecycle dependency through open architecture
• Local engineering support in Cumbria

The manipulator module mounts directly to Spot via a quick-release interface and operates as a self-contained manipulation payload. Spot provides mobility and power, while Re-Vector® provides precision manipulation and tool deployment capability.

Result

Spot provides mobility and access.

Re-Vector provides dexterous manipulation, sensing and task execution within complex industrial environments.