Remote robotic systems for nuclear environment application

Abstract

In this paper, we describe the development of remote robotic systems for use in a nuclear environment at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. Remote robotic systems were designed and developed to be used in a highly radioactive zone of a hot-cell or a completely sealed argon gas cell because human workers cannot have access to the in-cell during a cell operation. These remote robotic systems are classified into two groups depending on the task environment that they are applied to - remote robotic cleaning systems and tele-manipulator system. Remote robotic cleaning systems are used to clean up the in-cell floor contaminated with radioactive contaminants in a fully remote manner. Tele-manipulator system is an electrically driven master-slave manipulators that are used for remote operation and maintenance of the pyroprocessing equipments installed inside the argon gas-filled cell. We present the design considerations, capabilities and application of the developed remote robotic systems.