Uploaded December 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
When the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory needed a way to safely patrol a dangerous high-voltage area, a team of University of California, Davis engineering students built SAPPHIRE the robot.
The prototype SAPPHIRE—short for Semi-Autonomous Pulsed Power Hazard Inspection Robotic Explorer — is seen here in this video during a brief demonstration at NIF. SAPPHIRE was one of three projects that are part of a novel NIF-sponsored plan that strengthens LLNL’s pipelines to college engineering programs. In return, the participating students received valuable real-world experiences that go far beyond what they would learn in the classroom.
For more, read our story here;
lasers.llnl.gov/news/college-students-learn-valuable-lessons-building-robots-for-nif
LLNL-WEB-842229
#NationalIgnitionFacility #NIF #LLNL #Shorts
When the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory needed a way to safely patrol a dangerous high-voltage area, a team of University of California, Davis engineering students built SAPPHIRE the robot.
The prototype SAPPHIRE—short for Semi-Autonomous Pulsed Power Hazard Inspection Robotic Explorer — is seen here in this video during a brief demonstration at NIF. SAPPHIRE was one of three projects that are part of a novel NIF-sponsored plan that strengthens LLNL’s pipelines to college engineering programs. In return, the participating students received valuable real-world experiences that go far beyond what they would learn in the classroom.
For more, read our story here;
lasers.llnl.gov/news/college-students-learn-valuable-lessons-building-robots-for-nif
LLNL-WEB-842229
#NationalIgnitionFacility #NIF #LLNL #Shorts
