No one wants to be close to nuclear waste for various reasons, such as radiation, so the team of Lancaster University engineers is developing a new semi-automatic robot system to help dismantle the decommissioned reactor. The robot system uses the latest imaging software and Microsoft Kinect sensors, and uses robotic arms to identify, grab, and cut pipes and other objects. The operator does not need to participate in these operations throughout the process.
The decommissioning of nuclear reactors is a long and expensive task that requires a high technical threshold for operation. Unfortunately, these operations must be completed in a highly radioactive environment contaminated by nuclear waste at all levels, which puts the technicians in danger and it is difficult to have high operation accuracy when operating remotely.
James Taylor, professor of control engineering at the Department of Engineering, Lancaster University, said: "The nuclear waste disposal operating specifications are remotely controlled by humans, but considering the complexity of the entire task is extremely difficult for the operator. A completely autonomous solution It is unlikely to be considered safe in the near future, so we have explored creating a semi-automatic solution between the two. "
The prototype robot has a hydraulic power arm and a manipulator, where the camera provides visual information. But the camera not only acts as a simple closed circuit device, but transmits images to a computer for analysis, allowing the robot to recognize objects and find out how to grasp, manipulate, and cut objects. The operator is not a traditional joystick control, but points out the required object on the screen, and the robot handles the remaining operations.
Taylor said: “By using a camera mounted on the robot, our system is focused on tasks such as selecting and cutting pipes in these harsh environments. Our system enables the operator to instruct the robot manipulator to execute the pipeline with four mouse clicks Grabbing and cutting operations. Tests have shown that operators using the system successfully outperform operators using current joystick-based standards. It allows users to control the entire robot, but significantly reduces the user ’s workload and operating time . "
Because this system is controlled by the operator, it does not require a lot of training. The project should also focus on how to equip the robot with multiple sensors for audio and temperature, so as to provide users with more feedback and more information. The research was published in Robotics.
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