Rescue tool for ITER blanket remote handling system

If a remote handling system were to become unrecoverable from the vacuum vessel of a fusion reactor, the reactor would be forced to cease all operations. Consequently, the means of recovery of remote handling systems in fusion reactors must be well-established. The ITER Blanket Remote Handling System will use an auxiliary rescue tool, which is introduced into the vacuum vessel and then remotely positioned to drive any failed joint. This paper presents the design and test results of a prototype rescue tool for the ITER Blanket Remote Handling System. We designed a rescue tool having compliant mechanisms to provide six degrees of freedom. The compliant mechanisms are completely passive to keep the tool simple and reliable. Testing of a prototype rescue tool by using a manipulator to simulate the remote environment, we found that our rescue tool is capable of being positioned remotely using a robot vision system owing to the compliant mechanism, which can absorb positioning error up to up to 4 mm in translation, 4° in pitch and yaw, and 2.5° in roll. Therefore, we conclude our rescue tool can be applied as the means of recovery for the ITER Blanket Remote Handling System.