Remotely-operated manipulator vehicle for nuclear facilities

A prototype tele-operated mobile robot, which consisted of an intelligent locomotion vehicle and an electric master-slave manipulator, was developed for remote maintenance in nuclear facilities. The vehicle has five legged wheels and each leg has four degrees of freedom, while the manipulator has six degrees of freedom and a pair of parallel tongs. The prototype is presently being utilized for performance tests. Laboratory tests show that the vehicle has satisfactory mobility on level ground, on stairs, and on slopes. The manipulator shows good operability with us by using friction and deadweight compensation