Ready to (Pipebot Pat) Roll: How can we share learnings to progress the use of robotics to eradicate blockages within sewers?
Pipebot Patrol is a £1.8m project funded by the Ofwat Water Breakthrough Challenge to develop, build and test an autonomous sewer robot that can live in the sewer, continuously inspect pipe condition, and raise alerts to the precise location of blockages as they begin to form. The project is due to complete later in 2026, making the 2026 Innovation Festival a timely opportunity to share learning to date, continue to progress delivery, and shape the next steps for scaling the approach in the future.
At IF26 we will bring together wastewater operators, robotics engineers, data/AI specialists and innovators to:
- Share what we have learned so far from developing Pipebot Patrol.
- Test and stress‑test assumptions about autonomy, sensing, comms and operations in live sewer environments.
- Co-design the ‘next step’ roadmap - what we need to prove, build and partner on to move from trial to scalable deployment.
We will combine short show-and-tell inputs with structured working sessions. Across the week we will:
- Share learnings from Pipebot Patrol so far (what has worked, what hasn’t, and what surprised us).
- Map the end-to-end operational concept: deployment, retrieval, maintenance, safety, and integration with existing sewer operations.
- Explore the technology stack and constraints: sensing for early blockage formation, localisation, autonomy, power, comms, and data handling in harsh environments.
- Co-design pathways to scale: partners, regulation/assurance, cost model, and what evidence is needed for wider adoption.
- Define a prioritised ‘next steps’ roadmap (0–3 months, 3–12 months, and post‑project) with owners and dependencies.
- A shared set of Pipebot Patrol learnings and open questions.
- A clear definition of what ‘success’ looks like for the remainder of the project in 2026.
- A prioritised roadmap of next steps and experiments to de-risk scale-up
- A shortlist of deployment/scale scenarios and the data/integration requirements to make them real.
Wastewater network and operations teams, sewer maintenance planners, robotics / autonomy engineers, sensing / inspection specialists, data / AI practitioners, comms / IoT connectivity experts, asset management, health & safety, and innovation leads.
If you’re interested in preventing blockages and reducing reactive responses through persistent in-sewer monitoring, this sprint is for you.
Any questions: contact Chris Bolt - christopher.bolt@nwl.co.uk