Model based, sensor-directed remediation of underground storage tanks

Sensor-rich, intelligent robots that function with respect to models of their environment have significant potential to reduce the time and cost for the cleanup of hazardous waste while increasing operator safety. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is performing technology development and experimental investigations into the application of intelligent robot control technology to the problem of cleaning up waste stored in underground tanks. The tasks addressed in the SNL experiments are in situ physical characterizations of underground storage tanks (USTs) as well as the contained waste and the removal of the waste from the tank both for laboratory analysis and as part of the tank cleanup process. Both fully automatic and manual robot control technologies are being developed and demonstrated. The SNL-developed concept of human-assisted computer control will be employed whenever manual control of the robot is required. The UST Robot Technology Development Laboratory (URTDL) consists of a commercial gantry robot modified to allow hybrid force/position control