Kinematic analysis on rail development into vacuum vessel for ITER blanket maintenance

The vehicle manipulator system for blanket maintenance is used as a main driving mechanism for rail development, and three driving mechanisms d1, d2 (or d2') and d3 are used as cycle sequence of the repeated operations for rail development. This repeated operation can develop the articulated rail into the vacuum vessel. The rail development scenario, kinematic analysis model for rail development without any driving mechanisms in the rail joints, equations defined the angular between two rail links, identification of rail link at repeated operation, numerical analysis results on rail deployment under the forced position control of li+1, new rail development scenario using two driving mechanisms d1 and d2''under one cycle sequence of the repeated operations, and rail development test are reported. (S.Y.)