Nuclear Robots
Control and maintenance of equipment in nuclear industries must be carried out to precision as a small incident could have far reaching consequences due to the volatile nature of nuclear technology. Thus robotic systems are used in nuclear industries. They shorten the mean time for to repair, by reducing response time to failures. There is no necessity for the suiting up of the “repair squad.” There is a reduction to health risks since human exposure is reduced while improving safety because robots are able to perform operations with consistency and without human error. Maintenance can take place during operations, instead of halting operation in the instance of an incident. This also makes the use of robotics in this industry is very cost effective, as the robo
t may pay for itself during one single application by preventing shutdown of a facility.The figure shows a robotic devices deployed to retrieve waste at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. There are several features required for maintenance in the nuclear industry. Due to low frequency of operation, a particular machine should be able to do a wide variety of tasks, to remain cost effective. Due to the layout of nuclear facilities, maintenance and repair require a fair level of dexterity. The uncertain impact of failure caused by the hazardous nature of the environment, leads us to the conclusion that a tele-operated robot would not just be advantageous, it would be essential. Thus robots are used for the following purposes: Operation and maintenance of industrial nuclear facilities and laboratories, maintenance in nuclear reactors, decommissioning and dismantling nuclear facilities, and lastly emergency intervention.T. Ranjan
U036030X
http://www.cs.utk.edu/~parker/publications/Handbook99.pdf
