State of the Art of Laser Hardening and Cladding

In this paper an overview is given about laser surface modification processes, which are developed especially with the aim of hardness improvement for an enhanced fatigue and wear behaviour. The processes can be divided into such with and without filler material and in solid-state and melting processes. Actual work on shock hardening, transformation hardening, remelting, alloying and cladding is reviewed, where the main focus was on scientific work from the 21st century

Robotics for nuclear power plants - Challenges and future perspectives

Use of robotics and computerized tools in Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) has been identified as a highly recommended practice by IAEA. The key rationale of robotics application has always been to avoid human exposure to hazardous environments and tasks ranging from scrutiny and general maintenance to decontamination and post accidental activities. To execute these activities, robots need to incorporate artificial intelligence, improved sensors capability, enhanced data fusion and compliant human like leg and hand structures for efficient motions. Next generation robotic systems in NPPs are expected to work in full autonomous mode in contrast to the current semi-autonomous scenarios. Far future systems could deploy humanoid robots as well. This paper presents state-of-theart of robotics developed for NPPs, associated challenges and finally comments on future directions

Nonterrestrial utilization of materials: Automated space manufacturing facility

Four areas related to the nonterrestrial use of materials are included: (1) material resources needed for feedstock in an orbital manufacturing facility, (2) required initial components of a nonterrestrial manufacturing facility, (3) growth and productive capability of such a facility, and (4) automation and robotics requirements of the facility

Clothing robots for rescue operations for radiation protection

Rescue robots are preferred over humans in situations, where human lives can be adversely affected. For instance, in Fukushima nuclear disaster, rescue robots were sent to the irradiated environment of the site to carry out investigations and rescue works. However, rescue robots can also be hurt by the radiations. For instance, electronic components of a rescue robot can malfunction when exposed to radiations, which may hinder rescuing tasks. Therefore, the protection of electronic components in an irradiated environment is the bottleneck problem for such rescue robots to work. The contemporary solution to this problem is to design a specialized rescue robot with a specialized material or coating material to build such robots. Such a solution proved to be ineffective in the Fukushima nuclear disaster management as well as to be costly. This thesis proposes a new concept – namely to wrap a robot with clothes that stop radiations. That is to say, any robot that may certainly not be specifically designed for working in an irradiated environment can clothe itself and then work in an irradiated environment. Feasibility of the concept of clothing a robot along with its technology was investigated in this thesis, and this includes classification of rescue robots in an irradiated environment, development of the architecture of clothes for robots, selection of materials for the clothes for radiation protection. A case study to validate the concept and technology was also conducted. To the best of the author’s knowledge of the available literature, no one in the field of robotics mentioned the concept of clothing robots. The result of the study in this thesis will have a huge benefit to the nuclear energy industry worldwide

Investigation Robot on Cables

International audienceThe Decontamination and Decommissioning (D&D) Operations take place in hostile environments to the human intervention. In this context, robotic systems are a solution to achieve these operations while minimizing human intervention. Among these operations, the monitoring of lengthwise plant has to be performed in places where the radioactive contaminations make hostile environments. These monitoring operations need to measure several physics parameters in several locations in a precise and safe manner. These repetitive tasks can be made by robots that are simple, small sized and easily adaptable. In this scope, a robotic system on cables has been designed to control and monitor the inside of lengthwise nuclear facilities. In lengthwise installations, the using of cables allows to increase the covered zone of the robots which is an essential quality in such places. Unlike cable-driven parallel robots used in workspaces of 2D or 3D controlled by redundant tensioning motors, the current robot moves in a 1D workspace. Thus a tractors cable controlled by one tensioning motor is used to drive the robot on carrier cables. In this paper, we will describe the first results of this work by bringing out the innovation of our system. Then, we will discuss the perspective to upgrade the actual system whose applications could be perfectly imagined outside the nuclear D&D industry

An intelligent inspection and survey robot. Volume 2

Radioactive materials make up a significant part of the hazardous-material inventory of the Department of Energy. Much of the radioactive material will be inspected or handled by robotic systems that contain electronic circuits that may be damaged by gamma radiation and other particles emitted from radioactive material. This report examines several scenarios, the damage that may be inflicted, and methods that may be used to protect radiation-hardened robot control systems. Commercial sources of components and microcomputers that can withstand high radiation exposure are identified

Small business innovation research. Abstracts of completed 1987 phase 1 projects

Non-proprietary summaries of Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) projects supported by NASA in the 1987 program year are given. Work in the areas of aeronautical propulsion, aerodynamics, acoustics, aircraft systems, materials and structures, teleoperators and robotics, computer sciences, information systems, spacecraft systems, spacecraft power supplies, spacecraft propulsion, bioastronautics, satellite communication, and space processing are covered