Decommissioning Robot Retrieves Fuel Debris from High Altitude

Abstract

Decommissioning Robot Competition is a robotics competition for decommissioning of reactor. The purpose of this study is to develop human resources which will be responsible for decommissioning technology in the future by giving them knowledge and interest in decommissioning work itself, as well as experience gained in the process. The task of the fourth competition is to go through a narrow pipe, to the pedestal section, and then to take a golf or tennis ball at the bottom of the hole in the pedestal section and a return. This study aims to build a robot that can perform the tasks in the 4th Decommissioning Robot Competition. The robot is composed of the main unit and sub-unit. The purpose of the main unit is to hang and lift the sub-unit safely and to pass the cables connected to the sub-unit safely. The purpose of the main unit is to hang and lift the subunit safely and to pass the cables connected to the sub-unit safely. An infinite track is used for the footrest, and a slide rail is attached to the top of the main unit to lift the sub-unit with a cable. The cable was bitten to a pulley attached to the slide rail, and the cable was collected by moving the pulley. The purpose of the sub-unit is to search for and hold the object to be recovered. We prepared a terminal to operate the sub-unit and a terminal to check the camera image. To hold the object, an arm is attached to the front of the sub-unit and the object is sandwiched between the arm and the front of the sub-unit. As a result, the robot was able to perform the tasks, but due to the lack of prior testing and coordination, it was not able to clear all the competition tasks.