17 research outputs found
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Precision assembly and alignment of large optic modules for the National Ignition Facility
The National Ignition Facility (NIF), currently under design and construction at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), will be the world`s biggest laser. The optics for the multipass, 192-beam, high-power, neodymium-glass laser will be assembled and aligned in the NIF Optics Assembly Building (OAB), adjacent to the huge Laser and Target Area Building (LTAB), where they will be installed. To accommodate the aggressive schedule for initial installation and activation, rapid assembly and alignment of large aperture optics into line replaceable units (LRUs) will occur through the use of automated handling, semi-autonomous operations, and strict protocols. The OAB will have to maintain rigorous cleanliness levels, achieve both commonality and versatility to handle the various optic types, and allow for just-in-time processing and delivery of the optics into the LTAB without undoing their strict cleanliness and precise alignment. This paper describes the Project`s design philosophy of modularity and hardware commonality and presents the many design challenges encountered. It also describes how, by using a mixture of commercially available and newly designed equipment, we have developed unique systems for assembly and alignment, inspection and verification, and LRU loading and transfer
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Novel transport-vehicle design for moving optic modules in the National Ignition Facility
The National Ignition Facility, currently under design and construction at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, will be the world`s largest laser when complete. The NIF will use about 8,000 large optics of 26 different types to focus up to 192 laser beams on a dime-size target. Given the constraints of the NIF operating environment, the tasks associated with optics transport and handling require a novel, versatile transport system. The system will consist of a computer system containing guidance, traffic management and order entry functions, and four or more automated laser-guided vehicles. This transport system will transport optics enclosures that are essentially portable clean rooms and will lift, align, and position them as needed to contact and engage mating points on the laser support structure
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Addressing nuclear and hostile environment challenges with intelligent automation
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Optical assembly and alignment for the National Ignition Facility project
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) will use about 8,000 large optics to carry a high-power laser through a stadium-size building, and will do so on a very tight schedule and budget. The collocated Optics Assembly Building (OAB) will assemble and align, in a clean-room environment, the NIF`s large optics, which are the biggest optics ever assembled in such an environment. In addition, the OAB must allow for just-in-time processing and clean transfer to the areas where the optics will be used. By using a mixture of off-the-shelf and newly designed equipment and by working with industry, we have developed innovative handling systems to perform the clean assembly and precise alignment required for the full variety of optics, as well as for postassembly inspection. We have also developed a set of loading mechanisms that safely get the clean optics to their places in the main NIF building
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Transport and handling of National Ignition Facility beamline optic modules
Installing the thousands of optics that make up the laser for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) is a complex operation. This paper introduces the Optical Transport and Material Handling designs that will be used to deliver the optics. The transport and handling hardware is being designed to allow autonomous, semiautonomous, and manual operations
Lawson criterion for ignition exceeded in an inertial fusion experiment
For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin "burn propagation" into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While "scientific breakeven" (i.e., unity target gain) has not yet been achieved (here target gain is 0.72, 1.37 MJ of fusion for 1.92 MJ of laser energy), this Letter reports the first controlled fusion experiment, using laser indirect drive, on the National Ignition Facility to produce capsule gain (here 5.8) and reach ignition by nine different formulations of the Lawson criterion
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Stereo vision based automated grasp planning
The Department of Energy has a need for treating existing nuclear waste. Hazardous waste stored in old warehouses needs to be sorted and treated to meet environmental regulations. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is currently experimenting with automated manipulations of unknown objects for sorting, treating, and detailed inspection. To accomplish these tasks, three existing technologies were expanded to meet the increasing requirements. First, a binocular vision range sensor was combined with a surface modeling system to make virtual images of unknown objects. Then, using the surface model information, stable grasp of the unknown shaped objects were planned algorithmically utilizing a limited set of robotic grippers. This paper is an expansion of previous work and will discuss the grasp planning algorithm
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How to Select Evapotranspiration Models (Abstract only)
From the Proceedings of the 1979 Meetings of the Arizona Section - American Water Resources Assn. and the Hydrology Section - Arizona - Nevada Academy of Science - April 13,1979, Tempe, ArizonaThis article is part of the Hydrology and Water Resources in Arizona and the Southwest collections. Digital access to this material is made possible by the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science and the University of Arizona Libraries. For more information about items in this collection, contact [email protected]
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Advanced Robotics Handling and Controls Applied to Mixed Waste Characterization, Segregation and Treatment
At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under the Mixed Waste Operations program of the Department of Energy Robotic Technology Development Program (RTDP), a key emphasis is developing a total solution to the problem of characterizing, handling and treating complex and potentially unknown mixed waste objects. LLNL has been successful at looking at the problem from a system perspective and addressing some of the key issues including non-destructive evaluation of the waste stream prior to the materials entering the handling workcell, the level of automated material handling required for effective processing of the waste stream objects (both autonomous and tele-operational), and the required intelligent robotic control to carry out the characterization, segregation, and waste treating processes. These technologies were integrated and demonstrated in a prototypical surface decontamination workcell this past year