Dedicated and industrial robotic arms used as force feedback telerobots at the AREVA-La Hague recycling plant

ISBN: 978-1-4244-6635-1/10International audienceCEA LIST and AREVA have been developing remote operations devices, also called telerobotics for 15 years. These tools were designed for interventions in the AREVA nuclear spent fuel facilities hot cells. From these 15 years of joint research and development, several technological bricks have been industrialized and used at the AREVA La Hague facilities. This article presents some of these bricks and their industrial developments. The “TAO2000” CEA LIST telerobotics generic software controller will be first discussed. This controller has been used to teleoperate dedicated slave arms like the MT200 TAO (an evolution of the conventional wall-transmission mechanical telemanipulator (MSM)) as well as industrial robotic arms like the Stäubli RX robots. Both the MT200 TAO and Stäubli RX TAO telerobotics systems provide force-feedback and are now ready to be used as telemaintenance tools at the AREVA La Hague facilities. Two recent maintenance operations using these tools will be detailed at the end of this pape

Dedicated and industrial robotic arms used as force feedback telerobots at the AREVA-La Hague recycling plant

International audienceCEA LIST and AREVA have been jointly developing telerobotic devices for 15 years to perform force feedback remote handling tasks in the AREVA La Hague used fuel recycling plant hot-cells. This article first reviews the technological developments involved: The generic Cartesian telerobotics software TAO2000 and the rad-hardened force sensor and multiplexer. We then discuss the experience of several maintenance campaigns of the dissolver wheel with the telerobot Stäubli RX TAO (using the Stäubli RX as a slave arm) and the specification of a new maintenance operation (bucket cleaning). The promising first operational results of the through-the-wall telescopic telerobot MT200 TAO [4] (a motorized version of the MT200 La Calhène cable-driven mechanical slave arm) in regular production tasks, are also presented. We conclude on the undergoing industrialization of these equipments by AREVA and its awaited benefits on the existing and future hot cell operations and design

Dedicated and Standard Industrial Robots used as Force-Feedback Telemaintenance Remote Devices at the AREVA Recycling Plant

International audienceIn this article, we present for the first time the lessons learned during an extensive testing campaign of the new telerobotic system MT200-TAO carried out in an active hot-cell. The extremely positive results obtained during the 10 months continuous working period have permitted the validation of the system for its use. The system will be installed first at La Hague plant. A real gain in productivity and higher security are expecte