Virtual simulator for the ITER Agile Robot Transporter with an inverse kinematic algorithm considering joint limits and collision avoidance

Abstract

Remote Handling (RH) systems are required to maintain the in-vessel components inside the ITER Vacuum Vessel (VV) because of high radiation. The Agile Robot Transporter (ART) is under development to cope with the in-vessel maintenance needs. This paper describes a virtual simulator of the Transporter to verify its kinematics such as joint ranges and body lengths whether it is suitable to carry out the blanket first wall maintenance. Independent joint control and sequential joint control algorithms are implemented, which are used to simulate the deployment sequence of the Transporter. End-effector control, null space control, automatic trajectory generation and control algorithms are implemented by using inverse kinematic algorithms, which are used to produce various postures of the Transporter to access the blanket first walls. The control algorithms consider the physical constraints such as the joint limits, internal collision avoidance among the Transporter’s bodies, and external collision avoidance between the Transporter’s bodies and the blanket first walls. The simulation results demonstrate that the Transporter can be deployed from the port into the VV and it can access all blanket first walls while respecting the physical constraints.