The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and CERN – the European
Laboratory for Particle Physics – have been awarded as ‘Highly
Commended' for The
Engineer's ‘Collaborate to Innovate (C2I) Award' for their
joint development of a small autonomous robot created to inspect
the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's most powerful
particle accelerator.
Named ‘PipeINEER' (a portmanteau of Pipe and Pioneer), this
first-of-its-kind, 3.7cm-wide robot was designed to travel
autonomously through long, narrow pipes called the beamline,
along the 27-kilometre-long LHC.
At the heart of the LHC, the beamlines are surrounded by
superconducting magnets kept at the very low temperature of
-271°C. The beamlines operate under ultra-high-vacuum conditions,
and their position deep within the infrastructure that supports
these extremes makes human access and inspection extremely
challenging.
To meet these challenges, CERN partnered with UKAEA's robotics
centre RACE (Remote Applications in Challenging Environments),
with remote handling expertise in hazardous and hard-to-reach
environments, to develop a robotic solution.
Nick Sykes, Director of RACE, UKAEA, said:
This award highlights the power of international collaboration,
bringing together UKAEA and CERN alongside the wider global
scientific community.
We're proud to apply our robotics expertise from fusion energy to
support CERN's world leading experiments. By combining our remote
handling experience with CERN's scientific excellence, we're
helping ensure the Large Hadron Collider operates safely and
efficiently for years to come.
Dr Giuseppe Bregliozzi, Beam Vacuum Operation Section Leader,
CERN, said:
PipeINEER will transform how we inspect and maintain the LHC. It
marks a major step forward in keeping our experiments running
smoothly.
Big challenge, small solution
CERN, located near Geneva on the French–Swiss border, operates
the 27-kilometre-long LHC underground tunnel, where subatomic
particles are accelerated to nearly the speed of light to help
scientists understand the fundamental nature of the universe. The
LHC has been central to major scientific discoveries, including
the identification of the Higgs boson.
Inside the LHC, particles travel through the long, narrow
beamline, under ultra-high-vacuum at the extremely low
temperatures of –271°C. To handle the expansion and contraction
caused by these harsh conditions, the LHC contains around 2,000
Plug‑In Modules (PIMs). Over time, small components within these
modules—especially thin Radio Frequency (RF) fingers that
maintain electrical contact—can bend slightly due to thermal
cycling. Even tiny deformations can create obstructions inside
the beamline, disrupting experiments and causing costly delays.
RACE is known for its expertise in designing robots for hazardous
and hard-to-reach places, including fusion energy, nuclear
facilities and space structures.
Together, the teams developed PipeINEER, a first-of-its-kind,
20‑centimetre-long robot designed to travel autonomously through
spaces as narrow as 3.7 by 3.7 centimetres inside the beamline.
Unlike existing pipe inspection systems, PipeINEER can navigate
up to six kilometres on battery power alone on a single mission –
roughly the length of 60 football pitches placed end‑to‑end –
while operating in a space only a few centimetres wide. As the
robot moves, it captures detailed images of each PIM and uses
artificial intelligence trained on real LHC imagery to detect any
abnormalities. It is equipped with energy‑efficient systems and
multiple safety features that monitor its performance during long
autonomous runs.
If the robot detects an issue, it returns to its starting point
and reports the exact location of the problem. This targeted
approach allows engineers to address specific points along the
27-kilometre collider, without disassembling large sections of
pipe and using a manual endoscope – a process that is extremely
time-consuming and expensive.
The highly commended PipeINEER robots are in the development
stage, with robot performance being tested over 60km of operation
later in 2026. Following this testing, final units will be
manufactured in late-2026 and CERN operators trained on the new
units in early 2027.
The ‘Collaborate to Innovate' Award was presented in London on
26th February 2026.
