Automating X-ray and neutron imaging applications with flexible automation

This dissertation advances the capability of autonomous manipulation systems for non-destructive testing applications, specifically computed tomography and radiography. Non-destructive testing is the inspection of a part that does not affect its future usefulness. Radiography and tomography technologies are used to detect material faults inaccessible to direct observation. An industrial 7 degree-of-freedom manipulator has been installed in various x-ray and neutron imaging facilities, including the Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory, for imaging purposes. Inspection of numerous components manually is laborious and time consuming, and there is the risk of high radiation dose to the operator. As Low As Reasonably Achievable exposure can be significantly reduced by installing a robot in an x-ray or neutron imaging facility to perform part placement in the beam for radioactive parts and nuclear facilities. Automation has the additional potential benefit of improving part throughput by obviating the need for human personnel to move or exchange parts to be imaged and allowing for flexible orientation of the imaged object with respect to the x-ray or neutron beam. When the process is fully automated, it eliminates the need for a human to enter the beam area. The robot needs to meet certain performance requirements, including high repeatability, precision, stability, and accuracy. The robotic system must be able to precisely position and align parts, and parts need to be held still while the image is taken. Any movement of the specimen during exposure causes image blurring. Robotics and remote systems are an integral part of the ALARA approach to radiation safety. Robots increase the distance between workers and hazards and reduce time that workers must be exposed. Research performed aims to expand the role of automation at nuclear facilities by reducing the burden on human operators. The robot’s control system must manage collision detection, grasping, and motion planning to reduce the amount of time that an operator spends micro-managing such a system via tele-operation. The subject of this work includes modeling (in MCNP) and measuring flux, dose rates, and DPA rates of neutron imaging facilities to develop predictions of radiation flux, dose profiles, and radiation damage by examining neutron and gamma fields during operation. Dose and flux predictions provide users the means to simulate geometrical and material changes and additions to a facility, thus saving time, money, and energy in determining the optimal setup for the robotic system.Mechanical Engineerin

Multi-aperture beamforming for automated large structure inspection using ultrasonic phased arrays

Increasing the inspection quality and speed is essential in manufacturing applications, especially for large structures (e.g. modern aircrafts). Traditional ultrasonic manual scanning can be comprehensive, but lacks repeatability and is time-consuming. Several robotic non-destructive testing systems have been developed in recent years. Although high inspection rates have been achieved by the use of robotic arms, there is the need to furtherly increase the inspection speeds, to cope with the current industrial demands. For systems delivering robotic ultrasonic inspection through phased array probes, the current bottleneck is given by the time required to electrically fire all elements of the phased array probes, which limits the maximum scanning speed of the automated manipulators. This paper discusses the development of a multi-aperture beamforming method to focus the beam with multiple focusing points at a single firing. This work investigates this approach and the influence of different aperture excitations on the data quality. Experiments have been carried out using a 5MHz 32-element phased array probe manipulated by a KUKA robot. The results highlight the possibility to significantly improve the speed of automated inspection compared to linear beamforming, without compromising the inspection quality

Sensing and Automation Technologies for Ornamental Nursery Crop Production: Current Status and Future Prospects

The ornamental crop industry is an important contributor to the economy in the United States. The industry has been facing challenges due to continuously increasing labor and agricultural input costs. Sensing and automation technologies have been introduced to reduce labor requirements and to ensure efficient management operations. This article reviews current sensing and automation technologies used for ornamental nursery crop production and highlights prospective technologies that can be applied for future applications. Applications of sensors, computer vision, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), Internet-of-Things (IoT), and robotic technologies are reviewed. Some advanced technologies, including 3D cameras, enhanced deep learning models, edge computing, radio-frequency identification (RFID), and integrated robotics used for other cropping systems, are also discussed as potential prospects. This review concludes that advanced sensing, AI and robotic technologies are critically needed for the nursery crop industry. Adapting these current and future innovative technologies will benefit growers working towards sustainable ornamental nursery crop production

Pinellas Plant facts

The Pinellas Plant, near St. Petersburg, Florida, is wholly owned by the United States Government. It is operated for the Department of Energy (DOE) by GE Aerospace, Neutron Devices (GEND). This plant was built in 1956 to manufacture neutron generators, a principal component in nuclear weapons. The neutron generators built at Neutron Devices consist of a miniaturized linear ion accelerator assembled with the pulsed electrical power supplies required for its operation. Production of these devices has necessitated the development of several uniquely specialized areas of competence and supporting facilities. The ion accelerator, or neutron tube, requires ultra clean, high vacuum technology; hermetic seals between glass, ceramic, glass-ceramic, and metal materials; plus high voltage generation and measurement technology. The existence of these capabilities at Neutron Devices has led directly to the assignment of other weapon application products: the lightning arrester connector, specialty capacitor, vacuum switch, and crystal resonator. Other product assignments such as active and reserve batteries and the radioisotopically-powered thermoelectric generator evolved from the plant`s materials measurement and controls technologies which are required to ensure neutron generator life

NASA SBIR abstracts of 1991 phase 1 projects

The objectives of 301 projects placed under contract by the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are described. These projects were selected competitively from among proposals submitted to NASA in response to the 1991 SBIR Program Solicitation. The basic document consists of edited, non-proprietary abstracts of the winning proposals submitted by small businesses. The abstracts are presented under the 15 technical topics within which Phase 1 proposals were solicited. Each project was assigned a sequential identifying number from 001 to 301, in order of its appearance in the body of the report. Appendixes to provide additional information about the SBIR program and permit cross-reference of the 1991 Phase 1 projects by company name, location by state, principal investigator, NASA Field Center responsible for management of each project, and NASA contract number are included

Automated NDT inspection for large and complex geometries of composite materials

Large components with complex geometries, made of composite materials, have become very common in modern structures. To cope with future demand projections, it is necessary to overcome the current non-destructive testing (NDT) bottlenecks encountered during the inspection phase of manufacture. This thesis investigates several aspects of the introduction of automation within the inspection process of complex parts. The use of six-axis robots for product inspection and non-destructive testing systems is the central investigation of this thesis. The challenges embraced by the research include the development of a novel controlling approach for robotic manipulators and of novel path-planning strategies. The integration of robot manipulators and NDT data acquisition instruments is optimized. An effective and reliable way to encode the NDT data through the interpolated robot feedback positions is implemented. The viability of the new external control method is evaluated experimentally. The observed maximum position and orientation errors are respectively within 2mm and within 1 degree, over an operating envelope of 3m³. A new software toolbox (RoboNDT), aimed at NDT technicians, has been developed during this work. RoboNDT is intended to transform the robot path-planning problem into an easy step of the inspection process. The software incorporates the novel path-planning algorithms developed during this research and is shaped to overcome practical limitations of current OLP software. The software has been experimentally validated using scans on real high value aerospace components. RoboNDT delivers tool-path errors that are lower than the errors given by commercial off-line path-planning software. For example the variability of the standoff is within 10 mm for the tool-paths created with the commercial software and within 4.5 mm for the RoboNDT tool-paths, over a scanned area of 1.6m². The output of this research was used to support a 3-year industrial project, called IntACom and led by TWI on behalf of major aerospace sponsors. The result is a demonstrator system, currently in use at TWI Technology Centre, which is capable of inspecting complex geometries with high throughput. The IntACom system can scan real components 2.8 times faster than traditional 3-DoF scanners deploying phased-array inspection and 6.7 times faster than commercial gantry systems deploying traditional single-element inspection.Large components with complex geometries, made of composite materials, have become very common in modern structures. To cope with future demand projections, it is necessary to overcome the current non-destructive testing (NDT) bottlenecks encountered during the inspection phase of manufacture. This thesis investigates several aspects of the introduction of automation within the inspection process of complex parts. The use of six-axis robots for product inspection and non-destructive testing systems is the central investigation of this thesis. The challenges embraced by the research include the development of a novel controlling approach for robotic manipulators and of novel path-planning strategies. The integration of robot manipulators and NDT data acquisition instruments is optimized. An effective and reliable way to encode the NDT data through the interpolated robot feedback positions is implemented. The viability of the new external control method is evaluated experimentally. The observed maximum position and orientation errors are respectively within 2mm and within 1 degree, over an operating envelope of 3m³. A new software toolbox (RoboNDT), aimed at NDT technicians, has been developed during this work. RoboNDT is intended to transform the robot path-planning problem into an easy step of the inspection process. The software incorporates the novel path-planning algorithms developed during this research and is shaped to overcome practical limitations of current OLP software. The software has been experimentally validated using scans on real high value aerospace components. RoboNDT delivers tool-path errors that are lower than the errors given by commercial off-line path-planning software. For example the variability of the standoff is within 10 mm for the tool-paths created with the commercial software and within 4.5 mm for the RoboNDT tool-paths, over a scanned area of 1.6m². The output of this research was used to support a 3-year industrial project, called IntACom and led by TWI on behalf of major aerospace sponsors. The result is a demonstrator system, currently in use at TWI Technology Centre, which is capable of inspecting complex geometries with high throughput. The IntACom system can scan real components 2.8 times faster than traditional 3-DoF scanners deploying phased-array inspection and 6.7 times faster than commercial gantry systems deploying traditional single-element inspection

Research and Technology Objectives and Plans Summary (RTOPS)

This publication represents the NASA research and technology program for FY87. It is a compilation of the Summary portions of each of the RTOPs (Research and Technology Objectives and Plans) used for management review and control of research currently in progress throughout NASA. The RTOP Summary is designed to facilitate communication and coordination among concerned technical personnel in government, in industry, and in universities. The first section containing citations and abstracts of the RTOPs is followed by four indexes: Subject, Technical Monitor, Responsible NASA Organization, and RTOP Number

Large space structures and systems in the space station era: A bibliography with indexes (supplement 04)

Bibliographies and abstracts are listed for 1211 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between 1 Jul. and 30 Dec. 1991. Its purpose is to provide helpful information to the researcher, manager, and designer in technology development and mission design according to system, interactive analysis and design, structural concepts and control systems, electronics, advanced materials, assembly concepts, propulsion, and solar power satellite systems