An overview on mobile manipulator in nuclear applications*

Abstract

Nuclear power is worldwide popular and keeps rapidly growing, but manual operation in nuclear facilities is challenging by safety and workload issues. Mobile manipulators are ideal to replace human works in nuclear applications. This article reviews the development of mobile manipulators in nuclear applications over time. Then, we summarize three tasks for robots in nuclear applications and corresponding requirements, followed by an overview of the design of selected specific models. Based on the existing design, we propose the challenges for future mobile manipulators in nuclear applications.