The Development of a Radiation Hardened Robot for Nuclear Facilities

We has been developed two remotely controlled robotic systems. One is a underwater vehicle for inspection of the internal structures of PWRs and retrieving foreign stubs in the reactor pressure vessels and reactor coolant pipes. The other robotic system consists of a articulated-type mobile robot capable of recovering the failure of the fuel exchange machine and a mini modular mobile robot for inspection of feeder pipes with ultrasonic array sensors in PHWRs. The underwater robot has been designed by considering radiation effect, underwater condition, and accessibility to the working area. The size of underwater robot is designed to enter the cold legs. A extendable manipulator is mounted on the mobile robot, which can restore nuclear fuel exchange machine. The mini modular mobile robot is composed of dual inch worm mechanisms, which are constructed by two gripper bodies that can fix the robot body on to the pipe and move along the longitudinal and to rotate in a circumferential direction to access all of the outer surfaces of the pipe