Energid Technologies Corporation, announced 16 October, that it has been chosen to apply its Actin(TM) software to robotic systems being developed by AREVA Corporation for servicing and inspection of nuclear power plants.

“AREVA chose Actin for its advanced control capabilities, its ability to reason about 3D environments, and the fact that it is robot agnostic,” said Don Bigler, senior software engineer at AREVA, “At AREVA we use custom robots as well as off-the-shelf systems. We need software that can work with all of these seamlessly.”

Actin was originally developed for NASA for simplifying the control of complex space robots. The software has since evolved into a premier software suite, used for everything from space exploration to robotic oil drilling to easy-to-use industrial manipulators¬¬ -the latter through its partner company, Robai.

“Actin’s powerful engine allows us to simulate and control complex mechanisms easily,” said Bill Glass, chief technical advisor of AREVA NDE Solutions, “It enables our engineers to develop creative solutions not before possible, which ultimately leads to better value to our customers.”