Several new robots could soon be replacing people in dangerous situations where there are chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear threats, thus saving lives.

Oxford Dynamics, Createc, Autonomous Devices and the University of Bristol have all drawn up concepts that have received more than £2 million funding from the Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Oxford Dynamics have married AI and robotics in their machine Strider which will work out the best way to pick up, collect and store samples, which involves detecting the object as well as estimating its weight.

Autonomous Devices have created a drone that can swab hard to reach places to test for contamination, such as entering upstairs windows, and Createc have developed software to enable their robots to gather information and samples to deal with an incident. They can climb stairs, open car doors and use tools.

The university of Bristol have developed an uncrewed ground vehicle with a robotic arm that would work with a tethered drone to carry out decontamination with a spray system at a range of heights.

Dstl project leader Steve said: “We are delighted to be working with some of the top minds in industry and beyond on this exciting project.

“This advanced gold bag of technologies will be able to take hazardous and dangerous jobs away from people and deal with highly complex data in real time.

“It is an example of how the work of Dstl is delivering science and technology advantage across government and ensuring that defence and security are prepared for the future.