Perspective of use of Virtual Reality technologies in Nuclear Fusion

Program: 9.45 Prof. Vincenzo Coccorese - President of CREATE Consortium - Visit to CREATE Consortium - Faculty of Engineering, Via Claudio 21, 80125 Naples. 10.30 Prof. Bruno Siciliano and Prof. Vincenzo Lippiello - PRISMA Lab - Visit to the PRISMA Lab - Faculty of Engineering, Via Claudio 21, 80125 Naples. 12.00 Prof. Giuseppe Di Gironimo, University of Naples Federico II, DiME - Visit to the Virtual Reality Lab IDEAinVR (Interactive Design and Ergonomics Applications in VR) - Faculty of Engineering, P.le Tecchio 80, 80125 Naples - Presentation of the activities carried out by IDEA Lab in the design of FAST (Fusion Advanced Studies Torus) reactor. 13.30 Lunch. 15.00 Prof. Giuseppe Di Gironimo and Prof. Fabrizio Renno, University of Naples Federico II, DiME - Virtual Design Review of different solutions for the divertor locking system in the vacuum vessel, developed during the collaboration with VTT in Tampere (Finland). 15.00 Dr. Eng. Muhammad Ali, VTT - Presentation of the Divertor Test Paltform 2 (DTP-2) Facility and of the Remote Operation and Virtual Reality centre, (ROViR). - The use of virtual prototyping and simulation in ITER maintenance device development. 17.00 Discussion about possible future cooperation between DiME and VTT 18.00 Conclusion

Plasma facing components: A conceptual design strategy for the first wall in FAST tokamak

Satellite tokamaks are conceived with the main purpose of developing new or alternative ITER- and DEMO-relevant technologies, able to contribute in resolving the pending issues about plasma operation. In particular, a high criticality needs to be associated to the design of plasma facing components, i.e. first wall (FW) and divertor, due to physical, topological and thermo-structural reasons. In such a context, the design of the FW in FAST fusion plant, whose operational range is close to ITER’s one, takes place. According to the mission of experimental satellites, the FW design strategy, which is presented in this paper relies on a series of innovative design choices and proposals with a particular attention to the typical key points of plasma facing components design. Such an approach, taking into account a series of involved physical constraints and functional requirements to be fulfilled, marks a clear borderline with the FW solution adopted in ITER, in terms of basic ideas, manufacturing aspects, remote maintenance procedure, manifolds management, cooling cycle and support system configuration

Simulation of forest harvesting alternative processes and concept design of an innovative skidding winch focused on productivity improvement

In contexts in which mechanized harvesting is limited, such as in the northwestern Black Sea region of Turkey, it is important to improve timber harvesting productivity while preserving operators' safety and reducing environmental damage. This study aims to introduce a methodology in which the harvesting process is simulated with discrete-event simulation (DES) software in order to identify bottlenecks. An alternative process is compared to the original within the DES software, carrying out further steps oriented to the generation of new innovative product concepts. As a case study, the design of an innovative skidding winch is proposed. The development of the product was focused towards customer satisfaction by collecting customer requirements and identifying quality characteristics with a quality function deployment approach. Contradictions identified in the design phase were solved using the TRIZ contradiction toolkit, generating different product concepts. Inventive solutions provided by TRIZ were designed within parametric CAD software. The concepts were compared in a virtual environment, eventually selecting an optimal solution. The results showed that, with the concept adopted, it is possible to achieve a substantial increase in productivity, from 121% to 133%, in terms of kilograms of logs per hour deposited on the landing

On the usability of augmented reality devices for interactive risk assessment

The use of Augmented Reality (AR) technologies is the new challenge of management models born under the “Industry 4.0” paradigm. The aim of the work is to evaluate the usability of two types of AR devices (tablet and see-through) employed in the training and information activities of workers according to the ISO/IEC 9126 and ISO 9241 standards. Starting from the state of the art, evaluating market and competitors and developing different concepts of interfaces, a dedicated application was programmed and, then, the usability of such devices for the professional figures involved was evaluated through experimental tests. Two reference scenarios were defined, the Department of Industrial Engineering of University of Naples Federico II and INAIL (National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work) laboratories, an user interface was designed and developed, as an aid in the drafting of the document for risk evaluation and subsequent training of workers. The activity is part of the IDEE Project (Interactive Design for Ergonomics), born by the collaboration between Joint Lab IDEAS and Contarp-INAIL-Regional Management for Campania. The data analysis allowed to evaluate the goodness of the devices and the degree of satisfaction in their use on the basis of the sample of users who conducted the tests. The use of AR devices produces better results than paperwork in terms of efficiency and effectiveness, but not all devices produce appreciable results in terms of user satisfaction. Although AR technologies are mature, the tasks need to be carefully defined to avoid rejection phenomena. The strong expectation, that they generate in potential users, risks to remain disappointed today for some usability limits found in currently available devices. It is necessary to start testing in pilot applications in various industrial fields in order to capture in time and adequately support this opportunity of innovation in Italy

Does the Embodiment Influence the Success of Visuo-haptic Learning?

The purpose of this work is to demonstrate the influence of embodiment on the success of Visuo-haptic Learning, as it has not been yet investigated by current literature. With this aim, we conducted an experimental campaign to compare the users’ Sense of Embodiment (SoE) and learning success values obtained by experiencing the same simulated duty cycle within two different Visuo-haptic Learning environments. Interesting results have been found: the embodiment influenced the users’ completion time and mental workload, but it did not have particular incidence on the obtained learning level (intended as knowledge of the procedure). With this work, we aim to highlight the necessity of conducting wider and deeper studies about the influence of human factors and subjective perceptions on the success of Visuo-haptic Learning

An obstacle avoidance path planning algorithm to simulate hyper redundant manipulators for tokamaks maintenance

The present work proposes an obstacle avoidance path planning algorithm for virtual simulations of hyper-redundant manipulators, with the possibility to customize the optimization criteria to select the best trajectory given in output. For test purposes, the effectiveness of the proposed Inverse Kinematic algorithm has been tested by simulating the Remote Maintenance (RM) tasks conducted by the HyRMan: the Hyper Redundant Manipulator developed for the Divertor Tokamak Test (DTT) project. The algorithm has been employed to simulate some critical handling tasks of the First Wall (FW) modules, with a specific optimization criterion as an example of its potentialities

From Differential Geometry of Curves to Helical Kinematics of Continuum Robots Using Exponential Mapping

Kinematic modeling of continuum robots is challenging due to the large deflections that these systems usually undergone. In this paper, we derive the kinematics of a continuum robot from the evolution of a three-dimensional curve in space. We obtain the spatial configuration of a continuum robot in terms of exponential coordinates based on Lie group theory. This kinematic framework turns out to handle robotic helical shapes, i.e. spatial configurations with constant curvature and torsion of the arm

coupling of a redundant manipulator with a virtual reality environment to enhance human robot cooperation

Abstract The current trend in manufacturing is to obtain a flexible work cell in which human and robot can safely interact and collaborate. Virtual Reality (VR) represents an effective tool capable of simulating such complex systems with a high level of immersion. In order to take advantage of VR technologies to study Human-Robot Cooperation (HRC), a digital model of a redundant manipulator (KUKA LBR iiwa) has been developed starting with kinematic modeling and then coupled with the real robot. This approach allows simulating HRC in several scenarios, to reproduce the safe behavior on the real robot, as well as to train operators