Application of identification techniques to remote manipulator system flight data

Science.gov (United States)

Shepard, G. D.; Lepanto, J. A.; Metzinger, R. W.; Fogel, E.

1983-01-01

This paper addresses the application of identification techniques to flight data from the Space Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (RMS). A description of the remote manipulator, including structural and control system characteristics, sensors, and actuators is given. A brief overview of system identification procedures is presented, and the practical aspects of implementing system identification algorithms are discussed. In particular, the problems posed by desampling rate, numerical error, and system nonlinearities are considered. Simulation predictions of damping, frequency, and system order are compared with values identified from flight data to support an evaluation of RMS structural and control system models. Finally, conclusions are drawn regarding the application of identification techniques to flight data obtained from a flexible space structure.

In-vessel maintenance remote manipulator system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jimenez, E.

1978-01-01

The radiation environment within the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) vacuum vessel necessitates the development of a Remote Manipulator System (RMS) to perform required periodic inspection and maintenance tasks. The RMS must be able to perform dexterous operations and handle loads that exceed human capabilities. The limited size of the access ports on the TFTR vacuum vessel and the performance profile, defined by the various handling requirements, present unique design constraints. The design approach and formulation of a RMS configuration which satisfies TFTR requirements is presented herein

Remote manipulator experience in target train maintenance at Fermilab

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Butala, S.W.

1984-01-01

When Fermilab was designed in the late 1960's and early 1970's, it was anticipated that Neutrino target train servicing could be costly in terms of personnel radiation exposure. This was based in part on the expectation that target intensities of at least 1E13 protons/pulse would be required to produce several neutrino interactions in a large bubble chamber detector. This was indeed later proven to be the case and historically the Neutrino beamline has been targeted with about one half of the protons available from the Main Ring. It was believed that much of the occupational radiation dose from the Neutrino Area could be spared by utilization of a remote manipulator system, which was eventually installed. It is the purpose of this report to examine the use of the Fermilab remote manipulator system and evaluate its cost effectiveness and success as an ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) tool. 16 references, 11 figures

Kinesthetic coupling between operator and remote manipulator

Science.gov (United States)

Bejczy, A. K.; Salisbury, J. K., Jr.

1980-01-01

A universal force-reflecting hand controller has been developed which allows the establishment of a kinesthetic coupling between the operator and a remote manipulator. The six-degree-of-freedom controller was designed to generate forces and torques on its three positional and three rotational axes in order to permit the operator to accurately feel the forces encountered by the manipulator and be as transparent to operate as possible. The universal controller has been used in an application involving a six-degree-of-freedom mechanical arm equipped with a six-dimensional force-torque sensor at its base. In this application, the hand controller acts as a position control input device to the arm, while forces and torques sensed at the base of the mechanical hand back drive the hand controller. The positional control relation and the back driving of the controller according to inputs experienced by the force-torque sensor are established through complex mathematical transformations performed by a minicomputer. The hand controller is intended as a development tool for investigating force-reflecting master-slave manipulator control technology.

PHY∙FI: fast and easy online creation and manipulation of phylogeny color figures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fredslund, Jakob

2006-01-01

the phylogeny figure in some other general-purpose graphics program. PHY·FI is versatile, easy-to-use and fast, and supports comprehensive graphical control, several download image formats, and the possibility of dynamically collapsing groups of nodes into named subtrees (e.g. "Primates"). The user can create...... types of analysis, and hence they are available only for download and installing. Some online tools exist, too. Results This paper presents an online tool, PHY·FI, which encompasses all the qualities of existing online programs and adds functionality to hopefully eliminate the need for post-processing...... a color figure from any phylogeny, or other kind of tree, represented in the widely used parenthesized Newick format. Conclusion PHY·FI is fast and easy to use, yet still offers full color control, tree manipulation, and several image formats. It does not require any downloading and installing, and thus...

Stiffness analysis of spring mechanism for semi automatic gripper motion of tendon driven remote manipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, Seung Nam; Lee, Jong Kwang

2012-01-01

Remote handling manipulators are widely used for performing hazardous tasks, and it is essential to ensure the reliable performance of such systems. Toward this end, tendon driven mechanisms are adopted in such systems to reduce the weight of the distal parts of the manipulator while maintaining the handling performance. In this study, several approaches for the design of a gripper system for a tendon driven remote handling system are introduced. Basically, this gripper has an underactuated spring mechanism that is combined with a slave manipulator triggered by a master operator. Based on the requirements under the specified tendon driven mechanism, the connecting position of the spring system on the gripper mechanism and kinematic influence coefficient (KIC) analysis are performed. As a result, a suitable combination of components for the proper design of the target system is presented and verified

Solar maximum mission panel jettison analysis remote manipulator system

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, R. B.

1980-01-01

A study is presented of the development of the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) configurations for jettison of the solar panels on the Solar Maximum Mission/Multimission Satellite. A valid RMS maneuver between jettison configurations was developed. Arm and longeron loads and effector excursions due to the solar panel jettison were determined to see if they were within acceptable limits. These loads and end effector excursions were analyzed under two RMS modes, servos active in position hold submode, and in the brakes on mode.

Application of Shuttle Remote Manipulator System technology to the replacement of fuel channels in the Pickering CANDU reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stratton, D.; Butt, C.

1982-04-01

Spar Aerospace Limited of Toronto was the prime contractor to the National Research Council of Canada for the design and development of the Shuttle Remote Manipulator (SRMS). Spar is presently under contract to Ontario Hydro to design and build a Remote Manipulation Control System to replace the fuel channels in the Pickering A Nuclear Generating Station. The equipment may be used to replace the fuel channels in six other early generation CANDU reactors

Remote manipulation of posterior lamellar corneal grafts using a magnetic field.

Science.gov (United States)

Nahum, Yoav; Barliya, Tilda; Bahar, Irit; Livnat, Tami; Nisgav, Yael; Weinberger, Dov

2013-06-01

In posterior lamellar keratoplasty procedures such as Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty and Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty, the lamellar graft is manipulated directly or by injecting an air bubble. This preliminary study sought to evaluate the feasibility of guiding lamellar corneal grafts by generating a magnetic field. Rabbit and porcine Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty and Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty grafts were manually produced and immersed in a ferromagnetic solution containing nanomagnetic particles conjugated to streptavidin or in gadoteric acid. For the feasibility study, grafts were transferred to an artificial anterior chamber or plastic test tube and a magnetic field was generated with a handheld NdFeB disc magnet. The presence and the sustainability of graft motion were documented under various conditions. For the semiquantitative study, whole or partial grafts were transferred to a plastic test tube after immersion, and the amount of tissue retraction induced by the remote magnet was graded. The grafts were successfully manipulated in all directions by the magnet, from a distance of up to 7 mm. They remained ferromagnetic more than 24 hours after immersion in the ferromagnetic solutions. The degree of retraction was affected by graft size, immersion time, time from immersion, and immersion solution. Posterior lamellar corneal grafts may be made ferromagnetic and remotely manipulated by creation of a magnetic field. The ferromagnetic properties are adjustable. This technique holds promise in attaching and repositioning grafts during keratoplasty. Further research is needed to assess the possible effects of ferromagnetic solutions on corneal endothelial cells and on lamellar graft clarity.

Operating gains achieved by a new generation of remotely controlled manipulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Djedidi, A.; Selliez-Vandernotte, C.; Malcolm, F.

2014-01-01

A high performance remotely controlled mechanical master slave arm with direct transmission via cable and transmission rods has been converted to a new generation manipulator with electrical master slave arm and motion module with integrated software. The redesigned powered manipulator with software control improves efficiency and ergonomics while increasing operating field space. The mechanical master arm has been replaced by an electrical robotic master arm using haptic technology. The movements initiated by the operator are transmitted in real time to the slave arm via the servo-motors inside the motion module. The mechanical link between master and slave is eliminated and some mechanical constraints have been replaced by software applications. The operator benefits from an improved working position and vibration filtering plus full range high performance force feedback with reduced effort requirement. (authors)

Integration of remotely operated manipulator systems for the nuclear industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blight, J.; Cornec, G.

2003-01-01

There is no getting away from remotely operated manipulator systems in significant part in dismantling operations, because of the actual radioactive emitting level of installations. However, some main contractors, who have been involved in dismantling projects in the past few years are reluctant to use remotely operated systems because: - equipment characteristics are not suitable for the environment and the work to be performed; - There are some design problems; - Main components do not withstand operation any longer, after some time; - There are deficiencies in the management of quality, for critical equipment problems that degrade the productivity and increase direct and indirect labour cost. As a summary therefore, equipment available on this dismantling market are reputedly unreliable and not 'industrial' (sturdy) enough. However, numerous operations in maintenance in primary loops of nuclear reactors, or in the Offshore sector, are carried out remotely, to the satisfaction of the operators and the investors. In the dismantling sector, a thorough analysis of the difficulties encountered indicates that their origin is mostly due to a lack of methodology - that needs to be addressed -, rather than a technical problem. In that context, CYBERNETIX proposes to be involved in phases upstream and downstream of the equipment supply's. Upstream: Participate in developing/validating the scenarios to be used to optimise the constraints of remote operations/equipment. Downstream: Participate actively in supporting the client on-site, ensuring that equipment are available and maintained by competent and motivated people, and thus, getting experience in order to improve the State-of-the-Art of robotic in that field. Then, the contracting authority and CYBERNETIX jointly define the limits and the content of the involvement of each party, and also define the most appropriate type of 'partnership' between the main contactor and the participating companies, and in order to

Manipulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilcock, P.D.

1984-01-01

The patent concerns a manipulator, which enables operations to be carried out remotely from the operator. The device is suitable for use in handling of radioactive materials and other hazardous liquids or gases. The specifications are given, and the movements of the manipulator arm described. (U.K.)

Study and development of techniques for automatic control of remote manipulators

Science.gov (United States)

Shaket, E.; Leal, A.

1976-01-01

An overall conceptual design for an autonomous control system of remote manipulators which utilizes feedback was constructed. The system consists of a description of the high-level capabilities of a model from which design algorithms are constructed. The autonomous capability is achieved through automatic planning and locally controlled execution of the plans. The operator gives his commands in high level task-oriented terms. The system transforms these commands into a plan. It uses built-in procedural knowledge of the problem domain and an internal model of the current state of the world.

Multi-Sensor Localization and Navigation for Remote Manipulation in Smoky Areas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jose Vicente Marti

2013-04-01

Full Text Available When localizing mobile sensors and actuators in indoor environments laser meters, ultrasonic meters or even image processing techniques are usually used. On the other hand, in smoky conditions, due to a fire or building collapse, once the smoke or dust density grows, optical methods are not efficient anymore. In these scenarios other type of sensors must be used, such as sonar, radar or radiofrequency signals. Indoor localization in low-visibility conditions due to smoke is one of the EU GUARDIANS [1] project goals. The developed method aims to position a robot in front of doors, fire extinguishers and other points of interest with enough accuracy to allow a human operator to manipulate the robot's arm in order to actuate over the element. In coarse-grain localization, a fingerprinting technique based on ZigBee and WiFi signals is used, allowing the robot to navigate inside the building in order to get near the point of interest that requires manipulation. In fine-grained localization a remotely controlled programmable high intensity LED panel is used, which acts as a reference to the system in smoky conditions. Then, smoke detection and visual fine-grained localization are used to position the robot with precisely in the manipulation point (e.g., doors, valves, etc..

A manipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cole, G.V.; Hofmann, D.A.; Ashby, R.

1984-01-01

A manipulator is described, for remote handling of objects within an enclosure, by an operator outside the enclosure. The manipulator consists of a telescopically extensible arm member, the action of which is controlled by a motor-driven lead screw. (U.K.)

Remote docking apparatus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dent, T.H.; Sumpman, W.C.; Wilhelm, J.J.

1981-01-01

The remote docking apparatus comprises a support plate with locking devices mounted thereon. The locking devices are capable of being inserted into tubular members for suspending the support plate therefrom. A vertical member is attached to the support plate with an attachment mechanism attached to the vertical member. A remote access manipulator is capable of being attached to the attachment mechanism so that the vertical member can position the remote access manipulator so that the remote access manipulator can be initially attached to the tubular members in a well defined manner

User Interface Technology to Reduce Mental Transformations for Tangible Remote Dismantling Simulator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hyun, Dongjun; Kim, Ikjune; Lee, Jonghwan; Kim, Geun-Ho; Jeong, Kwan-Seong; Choi, Byung-Seon; Moon, Jeikwon; Choi, Jong-Won [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

High-level radiation of the major components restricts access by human workers, and makes an accident or outage during the dismantling process more difficult to deal with. Since unexpected situations causes waste of budget and an aggravation of safety, the preliminary verification of the dismantling processes and equipment by the tangible remote dismantling simulator is very important. The design optimization of the dismantling processes and equipment is one of the most important objectives of the tangible remote dismantling simulator, as well. This paper proposes a user interface technology to reduce mental transformations for the tangible remote dismantling simulator. At the dismantling process simulation using the tangible remote dismantling simulator, the most difficult work is the remote operation handling the high degrees-of-freedom (DOF) manipulator due to complex mental transformations. The proposed user interface technology reduces mental transformations with constraints using the point projection and direction projection. The test result of the cutting process over the closure head of the RPV demonstrates that the proposed mental transformation reduction technology is operated successfully in the tangible remote dismantling simulator, and lets the operator be easy to control the high DOF manipulator even in the most difficult operation by reducing DOFs to be controlled manually.

User Interface Technology to Reduce Mental Transformations for Tangible Remote Dismantling Simulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hyun, Dongjun; Kim, Ikjune; Lee, Jonghwan; Kim, Geun-Ho; Jeong, Kwan-Seong; Choi, Byung-Seon; Moon, Jeikwon; Choi, Jong-Won

2015-01-01

High-level radiation of the major components restricts access by human workers, and makes an accident or outage during the dismantling process more difficult to deal with. Since unexpected situations causes waste of budget and an aggravation of safety, the preliminary verification of the dismantling processes and equipment by the tangible remote dismantling simulator is very important. The design optimization of the dismantling processes and equipment is one of the most important objectives of the tangible remote dismantling simulator, as well. This paper proposes a user interface technology to reduce mental transformations for the tangible remote dismantling simulator. At the dismantling process simulation using the tangible remote dismantling simulator, the most difficult work is the remote operation handling the high degrees-of-freedom (DOF) manipulator due to complex mental transformations. The proposed user interface technology reduces mental transformations with constraints using the point projection and direction projection. The test result of the cutting process over the closure head of the RPV demonstrates that the proposed mental transformation reduction technology is operated successfully in the tangible remote dismantling simulator, and lets the operator be easy to control the high DOF manipulator even in the most difficult operation by reducing DOFs to be controlled manually

Manipulator system for remote maintenance of fusion experimental reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shibanuma, Kiyoshi; Munakata, Tadashi; Murakami, Shin; Kondoh, Mitsunori.

1991-01-01

We have completed the conceptual design for a rail-mounted vehicle type remote maintenance system for the fusion experimental reactor (FER), which will be the first D-T burning reactor in Japan. We have fabricated a 1/5-scale model and confirmed the feasibility of the design. In this system, a rail is deployed into the vessel and supported at four horizontal ports. A vehicle then moves along the rail and handles in-vessel components with manipulators. The advantages of this concept are the high stiffness and high reliability of the rail, and the high mobility of the vehicle for efficient maintenance operations. In the FER, this concept is considered to be the first option for in-vessel maintenance. This paper describes the conceptual design of the system and the feasibility study using the 1/5-scale model. (author)

Remote controlled in-pipe manipulators for milling, welding and EC-testing, for application in BWRS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seeberger, E.K.

2000-01-01

Many pipes in power plants and industrial facilities have piping sections, which are not accessible from the outside or which are difficult to access. Accordingly, remote controlled pipe machining manipulators have been built which enable in-pipe inspection and repair. Since the 1980s, defects have been found at the Inconel welds of the RPV nozzles of boiling water reactors throughout the world. These defects comprise cracks caused by stress corrosion cracking in areas of manual welds made using the weld filler metal Inconel 182. The cracks were found in Inconel-182 buttering at the ferritic nozzles as well as in the welded joints connecting to the fully-austenitic safe ends (Inconel 600 and stainless steel). These welds are not accessible from outside. The ferritic nozzle is cladded with austenitic material on the inside. The adjacent buttering was applied manually using the weld filler metal Inconel 182. The safe end made of Inconel 600 was welded to the nozzle also using Inconel 182 as the filler metal. The repair problems for inside were solved with remote-controlled in-pipe manipulators which enable in-pipe inspection and repair. A complete systems of manipulators has been developed and qualified for application in nuclear power plants. The tasks that must be performed with this set of in-pipe manipulator are as follows: 1st step - Insertion of the milling/ET manipulator into piping to the work location; 2nd step Detection of the transition line with the ferritic measurement probe; 3rd step - Performance of a surface crack examination by eddy current (ET) method; 4th step - Milling of the groove and preparation for weld backlay and, in case of ET indications, elimination of such flaws also by milling. 5th step - Welding of backlay and/or repair weld using the GTA pulsed arc technique; 6th step - After welding it is necessary to prepare the surface for eddy current testing. A final milling inside the pipe is done with the milling manipulator to adjust the

PHY·FI: fast and easy online creation and manipulation of phylogeny color figures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fredslund Jakob

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The need to depict a phylogeny, or some other kind of abstract tree, is very frequently experienced by researchers from a broad range of biological and computational disciplines. Thousands of papers and talks include phylogeny figures, and often during everyday work, one would like to quickly get a graphical display of, e.g., the phylogenetic relationship between a set of sequences as calculated by an alignment program such as ClustalW or the phylogenetic package Phylip. A wealth of software tools capable of tree drawing exists; most are comprehensive packages that also perform various types of analysis, and hence they are available only for download and installing. Some online tools exist, too. Results This paper presents an online tool, PHY·FI, which encompasses all the qualities of existing online programs and adds functionality to hopefully eliminate the need for post-processing the phylogeny figure in some other general-purpose graphics program. PHY·FI is versatile, easy-to-use and fast, and supports comprehensive graphical control, several download image formats, and the possibility of dynamically collapsing groups of nodes into named subtrees (e.g. "Primates". The user can create a color figure from any phylogeny, or other kind of tree, represented in the widely used parenthesized Newick format. Conclusion PHY·FI is fast and easy to use, yet still offers full color control, tree manipulation, and several image formats. It does not require any downloading and installing, and thus any internet user regardless of computer skills, and computer platform, can benefit from it. PHY·FI is free for all and is available from this web address: http://cgi-www.daimi.au.dk/cgi-chili/phyfi/go

Easy-to-use interface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blattner, D O; Blattner, M M; Tong, Y.

1999-01-01

Easy-to-use interfaces are a class of interfaces that fall between public access interfaces and graphical user interfaces in usability and cognitive difficulty. We describe characteristics of easy-to-use interfaces by the properties of four dimensions: selection, navigation, direct manipulation, and contextual metaphors. Another constraint we introduced was to include as little text as possible, and what text we have will be in at least four languages. Formative evaluations were conducted to identify and isolate these characteristics. Our application is a visual interface for a home automation system intended for a diverse set of users. The design will be expanded to accommodate the visually disabled in the near future

Informatics in radiology: Intuitive user interface for 3D image manipulation using augmented reality and a smartphone as a remote control.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakata, Norio; Suzuki, Naoki; Hattori, Asaki; Hirai, Naoya; Miyamoto, Yukio; Fukuda, Kunihiko

2012-01-01

Although widely used as a pointing device on personal computers (PCs), the mouse was originally designed for control of two-dimensional (2D) cursor movement and is not suited to complex three-dimensional (3D) image manipulation. Augmented reality (AR) is a field of computer science that involves combining the physical world and an interactive 3D virtual world; it represents a new 3D user interface (UI) paradigm. A system for 3D and four-dimensional (4D) image manipulation has been developed that uses optical tracking AR integrated with a smartphone remote control. The smartphone is placed in a hard case (jacket) with a 2D printed fiducial marker for AR on the back. It is connected to a conventional PC with an embedded Web camera by means of WiFi. The touch screen UI of the smartphone is then used as a remote control for 3D and 4D image manipulation. Using this system, the radiologist can easily manipulate 3D and 4D images from computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging in an AR environment with high-quality image resolution. Pilot assessment of this system suggests that radiologists will be able to manipulate 3D and 4D images in the reading room in the near future. Supplemental material available at http://radiographics.rsna.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1148/rg.324115086/-/DC1.

Master-slave manipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haaker, L.W.; Jelatis, D.G.

1981-01-01

A remote control master-slave manipulator for performing work on the opposite side of a barrier wall, is described. The manipulator consists of a rotatable horizontal support adapted to extend through the wall and two longitudinally extensible arms, a master and a slave, pivotally connected one to each end of the support. (U.K.)

Manipulator system man-machine interface evaluation program. [technology assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Malone, T. B.; Kirkpatrick, M.; Shields, N. L.

1974-01-01

Application and requirements for remote manipulator systems for future space missions were investigated. A manipulator evaluation program was established to study the effects of various systems parameters on operator performance of tasks necessary for remotely manned missions. The program and laboratory facilities are described. Evaluation criteria and philosophy are discussed.

Managing collaboration in the nanoManipulator

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hudson, Thomas C.; Helser, Aren T.; Sonnenwald, Diane H.

2004-01-01

We designed, developed, deployed, and evaluated the Collaborative nanoManipulator (CnM), a distributed, collaborative virtual environment system supporting remote scientific collaboration between users of the nanoManipulator interface to atomic force microscopes. This paper describes the entire...

Improvement of the M/S manipulator maintenance at OSL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuwana, Koichi; Ouchi, Hiroshi; Ito, Yutaka; Sato, Yoshihiro; Midorikawa, Mituhiro; Hayakawa, Tuyoshi

2010-01-01

The safeguards inspection samples from the JNFL Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant (RRP) are received and analyzed at the On Site Laboratory (OSL). Since the samples from the input accountancy tank of the RRP contain a lot of fission products, they are treated in a hot-cell line with a M/S (Master /Slave) manipulator. Special equipment and tools were used for the maintenance of the M/S manipulator, especially for the exchange of the M/S manipulator. However, the manipulator exchange work was not easy due to the limitation of the space in the OSL. For solution to this problem, a monorail and monorail hoist equipment was installed onto wall surface of analytical room close to each M/S manipulator, and then it made the exchange of M/S manipulator easy without special equipment and tools. Additionally, operator was freed from the burden of working space arranging for the exchange of M/S manipulator such as removing of analytical equipments. This report represents the improvement of operation for the exchange of M/S manipulator with installation of monorail and hoist equipment. (author)

Development of a control system for a heavy object handling manipulator. Application to a remote maintenance system for ITER blanket module

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshimi, Takashi; Tsuji, Kouichi; Miyagawa, Shinichi; Kubo, Tomomi; Kakudate, Satoshi; Tada, Eisuke

2001-01-01

This paper describes a control system for the heavy object handling manipulator. It has been developed for the blanket module remote maintenance system of ITER (International Thermonuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor). A rail-mounted vehicle-type manipulator is proposed for the precise handling of a blanket module which is about 4 tons in weight. Basically, this manipulator is controlled by teaching-playback technique. When grasping or releasing the module, the manipulator sags and the position of the end-effector changes about 50 [mm]. Applying only the usual teaching-playback control makes the smooth operation of setting/removing modules to/from the vacuum vessel wall difficult due to this position change. To solve this proper problem of heavy object handling manipulator, we have developed a system which uses motion patterns generated from two kinds of teaching points. These motion patterns for setting/removing heavy objects are generated by combining teaching points for positioning the manipulator with and without grasping the object. When these motion patterns are applied, the manipulator can transfer the object's weight smoothly at the setting/removing point. This developed system has been applied to the real-scale mock-up of the vehicle manipulator and through the actual module setting/removing experiments, we have verified its effectiveness and realized smooth maintenance operation. (author)

Adaptive strategies of remote systems operators exposed to perturbed camera-viewing conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Stuart, Mark A.; Manahan, Meera K.; Bierschwale, John M.; Sampaio, Carlos E.; Legendre, A. J.

1991-01-01

This report describes a preliminary investigation of the use of perturbed visual feedback during the performance of simulated space-based remote manipulation tasks. The primary objective of this NASA evaluation was to determine to what extent operators exhibit adaptive strategies which allow them to perform these specific types of remote manipulation tasks more efficiently while exposed to perturbed visual feedback. A secondary objective of this evaluation was to establish a set of preliminary guidelines for enhancing remote manipulation performance and reducing the adverse effects. These objectives were accomplished by studying the remote manipulator performance of test subjects exposed to various perturbed camera-viewing conditions while performing a simulated space-based remote manipulation task. Statistical analysis of performance and subjective data revealed that remote manipulation performance was adversely affected by the use of perturbed visual feedback and performance tended to improve with successive trials in most perturbed viewing conditions.

Remote maintenance system for nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maeda, Masafumi

1993-01-01

In the facilities related to atomic energy, from the viewpoint of the reduction of radiation exposure of workers and the heightening of the rate of operation of the facilities, the development of remote maintenance system is regarded as important. Meidensha Electric Manufacturing Co., Ltd. developed the bilateral control type manipulator, BILARM-83, in 1979, and has developed high performance manipulator systems. As the design of the plant that realizes the remote operation maintenance of process machinery and equipment during plant operation, the remote maintenance system by canyon cell techniques, which was adopted in Savannah River plant, USA, and has been operated for nearly 50 years, has been known. The concept of the full remote maintenance system by large scale cell techniques was shown and has been developed by Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corp. In order to realize the remote maintenance of such large scale cells, Meidensha is developing the both arm type bilateral servo manipulator, the single arm type power manipulator, the transport system for moving them, the power and signal system and so on. Those systems were adopted for the glass solidification facilities. (K.I.)

Manipulator systems for nuclear reactor decommissioning which can take end effectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lampersberger, E.; Hell, W.; Vrba, H.

1995-01-01

The development of a remote-handling system on the basis of the new master-slave manipulator will decisively influence the possibilities of remote-controlled manipulation in nuclear technology under the premises of -high availability - universal range of application - a standard normal for industry - maintenance friendlyness. (orig.) [de

Remote handling procedures in JET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raimondi, T.; Huguet, M.

1976-01-01

Remote maintenance will be needed in the second phase of operation due to the structural activation produced by deuterium-tritium discharges. Priority will be given to tasks which require frequent intervention, but efforts will be made also to tackle larger operations such as replacement of an octant. Owing to the variety and unpredictability of the operations which may be required, general purpose telemanipulator and TV systems will be used, mounted on versatile articulated supports capable of reaching the various parts of the machine. An experimental programme is planned to test the envisaged equipment and develop procedures for carrying out the various tasks as they are more clearly identified. Design of peripheral equipment for easy accessibility, choice of simple connection methods, development of auxiliary tools, as well as careful programming of the operations, will be essential for successful remote maintenance. The effort put into these areas will, however, also result in considerable time saving during the assembly and maintenance in non-active conditions. Preliminary feasibility tests of some difficult operations have already been done with a force-reflecting servo-manipulator and two TV sets for front and side viewing. Leak identification and precision welding for vacuum tightness were demonstrated

Path planning of master-slave manipulator using graphic simulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, J. Y.; Kim, S. H.; Song, T. K.; Park, B. S.; Yoon, J. S.

2002-01-01

To handle the high level radioactive materials such as spent fuels remotely, the master-slave manipulator is generally used as a remote handling equipment in the hot cell. To analyze the motion and to implement the training system by virtual reality technology, the simulator for M-S manipulator using the computer graphics is developed. The parts are modelled in 3-D graphics, assembled, and kinematics are assigned. The inverse kinematics of the manipulator is defined, and the slave of manipulator is coupled with master by the manipulator's specification. Also, the virtual work cell is implemented in the graphical environment which is the same as the real environment and the path planning method using the function of the collision detection for a manipulator are proposed. This graphic simulator of manipulator can be effectively used in designing of the maintenance processes for the hot cell equipment and enhance the reliability of the spent fuel management

Advanced remotely maintainable force-reflecting servomanipulator concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuban, D.P.; Martin, H.L.

1984-01-01

A remotely maintainable force-reflecting servomanipulator concept is being developed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory as part of the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program. This new manipulator addresses requirements of advanced nuclear fuel reprocessing with emphasis on force reflection, remote maintainability, reliability, radiation tolerance, and corrosion resistance. The advanced servomanipulator is uniquely subdivided into remotely replaceable modules which will permit in situ manipulator repair by spare module replacement. Manipulator modularization and increased reliability are accomplished through a force transmission system that uses gears and torque tubes. Digital control algorithms and mechanical precision are used to offset the increased backlash, friction, and inertia resulting from the gear drives. This results in the first remotely maintainable force-reflecting servomanipulator in the world. 10 references, 4 figures, 1 table

Powered manipulator control arm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Mouee, Theodore; Vertut, Jean; Marchal, Paul; Germon, J.C.; Petit, Michel

1975-01-01

A remote operated control arm for powered manipulators is described. It includes an assembly allowing several movements with position sensors for each movement. The number of possible arm movements equals the number of possible manipulator movements. The control systems may be interrupted as required. One part of the arm is fitted with a system to lock it with respect to another part of the arm without affecting the other movements, so long as the positions of the manipulator and the arm have not been brought into complete coincidence. With this system the locking can be ended when complete concordance is achieved [fr

Design requirements and performance requirements for reactor fuel recycle manipulator systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grundmann, J.G.

1975-01-01

The development of a new generation of remote handling devices for remote production work in support of reactor fuel recycle systems is discussed. These devices require greater mobility, speed and visual capability than remote handling systems used in research activities. An upgraded manipulator system proposed for a High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor fuel refabrication facility is described. Design and performance criteria for the manipulators, cranes, and TV cameras in the proposed system are enumerated

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Assessment of the remote manipulator system FMEA/CIL

Science.gov (United States)

Tangorra, F.; Grasmeder, R. F.; Montgomery, A. D.

1988-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA effort first completed an analysis of the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) hardware, generating draft failure modes and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. The IOA results were than compared to the NASA FMEA/CIL baseline with proposed Post 51-L updates included. A resolution of each discrepancy from the comparison is provided through additional analysis as required. The results of that comparison for the Orbiter RMS hardware are documented. The IOA product for the RMS analysis consisted of 604 failure mode worksheets that resulted in 458 potential critical items being identified. Comparison was made to the NASA baseline which consisted of 45 FMEAs and 321 CIL items. This comparison produced agreement on all but 154 FMEAs which caused differences in 137 CIL items.

Decommissioning of hot cells using a hydraulically powered servo manipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asquith, J.D.; Loughborough, D.

1993-01-01

This paper describes the preparations and initial trials involved in remotely dismantling the containment boxes within two concrete shielded hot cells at Harwell Laboratory using a hydraulically powered servo manipulator, ARTISAN. The manipulator deploys a variety of tools for cutting operations. The modular design has enabled it to be specifically configured for this application by adjusting the link lengths using spacers between the joints. In addition to the remote handling requirements, a new posting and ventilation system for the facility is outlined. Trials with ARTISAN in an in-active mock-up have now been successfully completed, and the manipulator is installed in the active facility. The considerations and approach adopted in this project are typical of many situations where remote techniques are required for decommissioning activities. (author)

Long-reach manipulators for decommissioning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Webster, D.A.; Challinor, S.F.

1993-01-01

A survey of redundant facilities at Sellafield has identified that in many cases the conventional means of deploying remote handling equipment are not appropriate and that novel means must be employed. However, decommissioning is not a value adding activity and so expensive one off designs must be avoided. The paper will describe BNFL's approach to the synthesis from proprietary parts of a manipulator which can lift 3 te at a horizontal reach of over 5 metres and yet can still perform the dextrous manipulation necessary to remove small items. It will also cover the development of the manipulator control systems and the adaption of commercial handtools to be manipulator friendly. (author)

Remote handling systems for the Pride application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, K.; Lee, J.; Lee, H.; Kim, S.; Kim, H.

2010-10-01

In this paper is described the development of remote handling systems for use in the pyro processing technology development. Remote handling systems mainly include a BDSM (Bridge transported Dual arm Servo-Manipulator) and a simulator, all of which will be applied to the Pride (Pyro process integrated inactive demonstration facility) that is under construction at KAERI. BDMS that will traverse the length of the ceiling is designed to have two pairs of master-slave manipulators of which each pair of master-slave manipulators has a kinematic similarity and a force reflection. A simulator is also designed to provide an efficient means for simulating and verifying the conceptual design, developments, arrangements, and rehearsal of the pyro processing equipment and relevant devices from the viewpoint of remote operation and maintenance. In our research is presented activities and progress made in developing remote handling systems to be used for the remote operation and maintenance of the pyro processing equipment and relevant devices in the Pride. (Author)

Evaluation of the revised electrolytic reduction reactor from a remote operability aspect

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Hyo Jik; Yoon, K. H.; Kim, K. H. (and others)

2008-01-15

This report presents an evaluation of the remote operability of the revised electrolytic reduction (ER) reactor installed in the ACP at KAERI. All operations have to be implemented in a fully remote manner since the ACPF is a hotcell for handling highly radioactive materials such as spent nuclear fuels. In particular, the ER process is a key process of the Advanced spent fuel Conditioning Process (ACP) and it needs a lot of other auxiliary equipment to perform it. Also, since the ER equipment is too big and complicated, and contrarily the ACPF is not big enough, and one common rail is allotted for a bridge transported servo manipulator, an in-cell crane and a gate crane, a remote handling of the ER reactor is accompanied by a difficulty for a remote operation. For an easy understanding, short overview of the ER process, the remote handling equipment, the structural configuration of the ACPF and the detail drawings of the ER equipment are presented. Through 4 month-remote operational tests, detailed operational procedures are presented along with pictures. The remote handling equipment and tools required in each operation are addressed in detail. Also, the procedure to implement each remote operation, and a task difficulty are evaluated from a remote operability aspect. All the remote tasks are distinguished according to whether a remote operation can be performed or not. Finally, partial improvement or an idea to solve the suggested problems is presented. This report will assist in modifying or scaling up the ER reactor.

Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Assessment of the EPD and C/remote manipulator system FMEA/CIL

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, W. W.

1988-01-01

The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA effort first completed an analysis of the Electrical Power Distribution and Control (EPD and C)/Remote Manipulator System (RMS) hardware, generating draft failure modes and potential critical items. To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. The IOA analysis of the EPD and C/RMS hardware initially generated 345 failure mode worksheets and identified 117 Potential Critical Items (PCIs) before starting the assessment process. These analysis results were compared to the proposed NASA Post 51-L baseline of 132 FMEAs and 66 CIL items.

Manipulator comparative testing program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Draper, J.V.; Handel, S.J.; Sundstrom, E.; Herndon, J.N.; Fujita, Y.; Maeda, M.

1986-01-01

The Manipulator Comparative Testing Program examined differences among manipulator systems from the United States and Japan. The manipulator systems included the Meidensha BILARM 83A, the Model M-2 of Central Research Laboratories Division of Sargent Industries (CRL), and the GCA Corporation PaR Systems Model 6000. The site of testing was the Remote Operations Maintenance Demonstration (ROMD) facility, operated by the Fuel Recycle Division in the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). In all stages of testing, operators using the CRL Model M-2 manipulator had consistently lower times to completion and error rates than they did using other machines. Performance was second best with the Meidensha BILARM 83A in master-slave mode. Performance with the BILARM in switchbox mode and the PaR 6000 manipulator was approximately equivalent in terms of criteria recorded in testing. These data show no impact of force reflection on task performance

Development and design optimization of water hydraulic manipulator for ITER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kekaelaeinen, Teemu; Mattila, Jouni; Virvalo, Tapio

2009-01-01

This paper describes one of the research projects carried out in The Preparation of Remote Handling Engineers for ITER (PREFIT) program within the European Fusion Training Scheme (EFTS). This research project is focusing on the design and optimization of water hydraulic manipulators used to test several remote handling tasks of ITER at Divertor Test Platform 2 (DTP2), Tampere, Finland, and later in ITER. In this project, a water hydraulic manipulator designed and build by Department of Intelligent Hydraulics and Automation in Tampere University of Technology, Finland (TUT/IHA) is further optimized as a case study for a given manipulator requirement specification in order to illustrate and verify developed comprehensive design guidelines and performance metrics. Without meaningful manipulator performance parameters, the evaluation of alternative robot manipulators designs remains ad hoc at best. Therefore, more comprehensive design guidelines and performance metrics are needed for comparing and improving different existing manipulators versus task requirements or for comparing different digital prototypes at early design phase of manipulators. In this paper the description of the project, its background and developments are presented and discussed.

Manipulator Comparative Testing Program: Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Draper, J.V.; Handel, S.J.; Sundstrom, E.; Herndon, J.N; Fujita, Y.; Maeda, M.

1987-02-01

The manipulator systems tested included the Meidensha BILARM 83A, the Central Research Laboratories Model M-2, and the GCA PaR Systems Model 6000. Six manipulator and control mode combinations were evaluated: (1) the BILARM in master/slave mode without force reflection, (2) the BILARM in master/slave mode with force reflection, (3) the Model M-2 in master/slave mode without force reflection, (4) the Model M-2 in master/slave mode with force reflection, (5) the BILARM with switchbox controls, and (6) the PaR 6000 with switchbox controls. The experiments examined differences between master/slave systems with and without force reflection and differences between master/slave systems and switchbox-controlled systems. A fourth experiment examined the relative contributions of the remote viewing system and the manipulator system to the performance of remote handling tasks. Results of the experiments showed that operators using the Model M-2 in master/slave mode had significantly faster times to completion than operators using the BILARM in master/slave mode, with about the same error rate per trial. Operators were slower using the BILARM with force reflection than without it, and they committed more errors. There was no statistically significant difference between force-reflection and nonforce-reflection conditions for the M-2 manipulator for any of the performance criteria. Tasks and procedures used in this testing were not sensitive to differences within any single system. No inferences about the effect of force reflection on remote task performance should be made from these data. The two manipulator systems in switchbox mode had significantly slower times to completion than any system in master/slave mode, with approximately the same error rate per trial. There were no significant differences between the BILARM in switchbox mode and the PaR arm

Remote maintenance concepts for the Compact Ignition Tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davis, F.C.; Hager, E.R.

1988-01-01

Because deuterium-tritium fuel will be used in the Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT), remote handling technology is needed to carry out some maintenance operations on the machine. In keeping with the compact, low-cost nature of CIT, remote maintenance is provided only for systems with the highest probability of failure. Remote operations include removing, repairing (if feasible), and replacing such components as thermal protection tiles on the first wall, radio-frequency (rf) heating modules, and diagnostic modules. For maintenance inside the vacuum vessel, major pieces of equipment under development include an articulated boom manipulator with servomanipulators, an inspection manipulator, and special tooling. For maintenance outside the cryostat, remote equipment includes a bridge-mounted manipulator system, equipment for decontamination and hot cell activities, and for handling and packaging solid radioactive waste. The conceptual design phase of the CIT project is nearing completion; research and development activities in support of the project include demonstrations of remote maintenance operations on full-size partial mock-ups. 9 figs

Large remote manipulator operating and maintenance experience at IEM cell

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hicks, D.F.; McGuinness, P.W.

1985-01-01

The Interim Examination and Maintenance (IEM) Cell at the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) has two large Electro-Mechanical Manipulators (EMM's). These manipulators are used for cell operations (processing of reactor core components) as well as general cell maintenance. From our eleven years of operation and maintenance experience with these large EMM's, we have learned many lessons concerning manipulator design. This paper describes the IEM Cell EMM design features and discusses operating and maintenance experience at the IEM Cell

Summary report on development of bilateral servo manipulator (BSM) for nuclear fuel cycle facilities in the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miki, Yasuo; Koizumi, Tsutomu; Aoshima, Atsushi; Kawanobe, Kazunori; Kobayashi, Yuichi

2000-03-01

In order to improve availability of nuclear fuel cycle facilities such as fuel reprocessing plants, reduce occupational radiation exposure, the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC) has been developing an advanced remote manipulative system for fully remote maintenance and repair tasks in large volume repair cells. Fully remote maintenance and repair task is performed primarily by the utilization of overhead bridge cranes, mechanical master-slave manipulators and electro-mechanical power manipulators. This system requires also that plant process and remote processing equipment should be designed to provide modular or unit replacement based on the potential mode of system failures. Repair of equipment is performed following removal of the failed component from process line and transfer to the repair cell. Equipment repair in the cell is commonly carried out by the use of remote manipulators. However, the realization of fully remote maintenance facility requires so remote manipulative systems as to provide excellent controllability, durability and remote maintenance capability, development of a bilateral servo-manipulator was initiated in 1982. Two of BSM were installed in the Tokai Vitrification Facility (TVF) cell and their remote maintenance feasibility was evaluated. Following installation in the TVF, developing efforts toward achieving advanced remote maintenance capability for the Recycle Equipment Test Facility (RETF) have been made. This report summarizes mainly mechanical and control system design for improvement, particularly upgrading controllability. (Itami, H.)

Remote Operation and Maintenance Demonstration Facility at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burgess, T.W.

1986-01-01

The Remote Operation and Maintenance Demonstration (ROMD) Facility at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been developed by the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program to demonstrate remote handling concepts on advanced nuclear fuel reprocessing equipment and for other programs of national interest. The ROMD facility is a large-volume high-bay area that encloses a complete, technologically advanced remote maintenance system and full-scale development reprocessing equipment. The maintenance system consists of a full complement of teleoperated manipulators, manipulator transport systems, and overhead hoists that provide the capability of performing a large variety of remote handling tasks. This system has been used to demonstrate remote manipulation techniques for the US Department of Energy (DOE), the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuels Development Corporation of Japan, the US Navy, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Extensive tests of manipulative systems and remote maintainability of process equipment have been performed. This paper describes the ROMD facility and key remote maintenance equipment and presents a summary of major experimental activities. 7 refs., 6 figs

Development and performance tests of the bridge-transported servo manipulator system for remote maintenance jobs in a hot cell

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jin, Jae Hyun; Park, Byung Suk; Ko, Byung Seung; Yoon, Ji Sup; Jung, Ki Jung

2005-01-01

In this paper, a prototype of the Bridge-Transported Servo Manipulator (BTSM) system introduced, which has been developed to do operation and maintenance jobs remotely in a hot cell. The system consists of a telescopic transporter, a slave arm, a master arm, and a control system. Several tests such as a positional tracking, a weight handling, reliability, and operability have been performed and test results are presented. Based on the test results, an upgraded system which will be used during demonstrations of the advanced spent fuel conditioning process (ACP) has been designed.

Counterweight system for master-slave manipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haaker, L.W.; Jelatis, D.G.

1981-01-01

A counterweight system is described for use in a remote control master-slave manipulator. The manipulator consists of a rotatable horizontal support adapted to extend through the wall and two longitudinally extensible arms, a master and a slave, pivotally connected one to each end of the support. Within the support there is a means of translating linear motion to rotary motion for transfer through the barrier wall and retranslating to linear motion. (U.K.)

Collision Detection for Underwater ROV Manipulator Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Satja Sivčev

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Work-class ROVs equipped with robotic manipulators are extensively used for subsea intervention operations. Manipulators are teleoperated by human pilots relying on visual feedback from the worksite. Operating in a remote environment, with limited pilot perception and poor visibility, manipulator collisions which may cause significant damage are likely to happen. This paper presents a real-time collision detection algorithm for marine robotic manipulation. The proposed collision detection mechanism is developed, integrated into a commercial ROV manipulator control system, and successfully evaluated in simulations and experimental setup using a real industry standard underwater manipulator. The presented collision sensing solution has a potential to be a useful pilot assisting tool that can reduce the task load, operational time, and costs of subsea inspection, repair, and maintenance operations.

Stainless steel decontamination manipulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sullivan, R.J.

1986-01-01

Three, large-volume coverage manipulator systems were designed and built for the Defense Water Processing Facility at the Savannah River Laboratory. These stainless steel systems will be used for high-pressure spray decontamination of waste containers and large process equipment modules. Each system has a manipulator arm, folding boom, and vertical drive and guide structure. Handling capacity is 45 kg, horizontal reach is 4.6 m with a 180-deg swing motion, and the vertical travel is 6 m. The system is remotely removable and replaceable in modules using an overhead crane and an impact wrench. The manipulator arm has seven motions: Shoulder rotation and pivot, elbow pivot, wrist pivot and rotation, and grip open-close. All motions are variable speed and are slip-clutch protected to prevent overloading from external forces (collisions)

Near-field acoustic microbead trapping as remote anchor for single particle manipulation

Science.gov (United States)

Hwang, Jae Youn; Cheon, Dong Young; Shin, Hyunjune; Kim, Hyun Bin; Lee, Jungwoo

2015-05-01

We recently proposed an analytical model of a two-dimensional acoustic trapping of polystyrene beads in the ray acoustics regime, where a bead diameter is larger than the wavelength used. As its experimental validation, this paper demonstrates the transverse (or lateral) trapping of individual polystyrene beads in the near field of focused ultrasound. A 100 μm bead is immobilized on the central beam axis by a focused sound beam from a 30 MHz single element lithium niobate transducer, after being laterally displaced through hundreds of micrometers. Maximum displacement, a longest lateral distance at which a trapped bead can be directed towards the central axis, is thus measured over a discrete frequency range from 24 MHz to 36 MHz. The displacement data are found to be between 323.7 μm and 470.2 μm, depending on the transducer's driving frequency and input voltage amplitude. The experimental results are compared with their corresponding model values, and their relative errors lie between 0.9% and 3.9%. The results suggest that this remote maneuvering technique may be employed to manipulate individual cells through solid microbeads, provoking certain cellular reactions to localized mechanical disturbance without direct contact.

CLIMAN - a mobile manipulator concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noltingk, B.E.; Owen, C.K.V.

With increasing age the integrity of more remote parts of reactors, such as the core restraints, is questioned so there is a need for a means of access to these places to carry out inspection, minor repairs and alterations. Conventional standpipe manipulators are about 20 m long so that extending them further presents difficulties of load capacity, rigidity, dexterity and control which must increase steeply with range. The proposal outlined here is for a mobile manipulator which can climb at the end of a cable (CLImbing MANipulator - CLIMAN) into a reactor and reach well beyond the range of a fixed base machine. In addition to virtually unlimited range such a mobile manipulator has twice as many degrees of freedom as a fixed base machine. Its body or base can be manoeuvred with six degrees of freedom so as to obtain the maximum coverage and obstacle avoidance for its manipulator. It is proposed that it should be manually controlled. (author)

Development of spent fuel remote handling technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, B. S.; Yoon, J. S.; Hong, H. D. (and others)

2007-02-15

In this research, the remote handling technology was developed for the ACP application. The ACP gives a possible solution to reduce the rapidly cumulative amount of spent fuels generated from the nuclear power plants in Korea. The remote technologies developed in this work are a slitting device, a voloxidizer, a modified telescopic servo manipulator and a digital mock-up. A slitting device was developed to declad the spent fuel rod-cuts and collect the spent fuel UO{sub 2} pellets. A voloxidizer was developed to convert the spent fuel UO{sub 2} pellets obtained from the slitting process in to U{sub 3}O{sub 8} powder. Experiments were performed to test the capabilities and remote operation of the developed slitting device and voloxidizer by using simulated rod-cuts and fuel in the ACP hot cell. A telescopic servo manipulator was redesigned and manufactured improving the structure of the prototype. This servo manipulator was installed in the ACP hot cell, and the target module for maintenance of the process equipment was selected. The optimal procedures for remote operation were made through the maintenance tests by using the servo manipulator. The ACP digital mockup in a virtual environment was established to secure a reliability and safety of remote operation and maintenance. The simulation for the remote operation and maintenance was implemented and the operability was analyzed. A digital mockup about the preliminary conceptual design of an enginnering-scale ACP was established, and an analysis about a scale of facility and remote handling was accomplished. The real-time diagnostic technique was developed to detect the possible fault accidents of the slitting device. An assessment of radiation effect for various sensors was also conducted in the radiation environment.

Remote Systems Design & Deployment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bailey, Sharon A.; Baker, Carl P.; Valdez, Patrick LJ

2009-08-28

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) was tasked by Washington River Protection Solutions, LLC (WRPS) to provide information and lessons learned relating to the design, development and deployment of remote systems, particularly remote arm/manipulator systems. This report reflects PNNL’s experience with remote systems and lays out the most important activities that need to be completed to successfully design, build, deploy and operate remote systems in radioactive and chemically contaminated environments. It also contains lessons learned from PNNL’s work experiences, and the work of others in the national laboratory complex.

Managing collaboration in the nanoManipulator

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hudson, Thomas C.; Heiser, Aron T.; Sonnenwald, Diane H.

2003-01-01

We designed, developed, deployed, and evaluated the Collaborative nanoManipulator (CnM), a system supporting remote collaboration between users of the nanoManipulator interface to atomic force microscopes. To be accepted by users, the shared nanoManipulator application had to have the same high...... level of interactivity as the single user system and the application had to support a user's ability to interleave working privately and working collaboratively. This paper briefly describes the entire collaboration system, but focuses on the shared nanoManipulator application. Based on our experience...... developing the CnM, we present: a method of analyzing applications to characterize the requirements for sharing data between collaborating sites, examples of data structures that support collaboration, and guidelines for selecting appropriate synchronization and concurrency control schemes....

Development of telerobotic manipulators for reactor dismantling work

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shinohara, Yoshikuni; Usui, Hozumi; Fujii, Yoshio

1991-01-01

This paper describes the amphibious electrical manipulators JARM-10, JART-25, JART-100 and JARM-25 which were developed in the program of reactor decommissioning technology development carried out by the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. They are multi-functional telerobotic light-duty (10 and 25 daN) and heavy-duty (100 daN) Manipulators which can be used in hostile environments in reactor dismantling work such as high radiation, underwater work and electrical noise. Each manipulator can be operated in either a bilateral master-slave, a teach-and-playback or a programmed control mode. By combining these modes appropriately, it is possible to perform complex tasks of remote handling. The usefulness of the telerobotic systems for dismantling nuclear reactors has been demonstrated by successful application of the JARM-25 for remote underwater dismantlement of highly radioactive reactor internals of complex form of an experimental nuclear power reactor. (author)

Manipulators in deep ocean environments, needs versus technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mackey, L.A.; Stenovec, G.M.

1984-01-01

As exploration and production proceed into deeper water, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and their manipulators acquire many of the tasks now performed by divers in shallower water. The resulting increased complexity of work tasks requires more dexterious manipulators. Even the most sophisticated of the manipulators today cannot perform many of the work tasks now performed by divers in shallower waters. Manipulators cannot yet duplicate the functions of the human hand. How much technology must be improved to perform the desired tasks, and how much adapting of the work task or equipment must be done to achieve a workable underwater robotics environment?

Visualization of virtual slave manipulator using the master input device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, S. H.; Song, T. K.; Lee, J. Y.; Yoon, J. S.

2003-01-01

To handle the high level radioactive materials such a spent fuel, the Master-Slave Manipulators (MSM) are widely used as a remote handling device in nuclear facilities such as the hot cell with sealed and shielded space. In this paper, the Digital Mockup which simulates the remote operation of the Advanced Conditioning Process(ACP) is developed. Also, the workspace and the motion of the slave manipulator, as well as, the remote operation task should be analyzed. The process equipment of ACP and Maintenance/Handling Device are drawn in 3D CAD models using IGRIP. Modeling device of manipulator is assigned with various mobiles attributes such as a relative position, kinematics constraints, and a range of mobility. The 3D graphic simulator using the external input device of space ball displays the movement of manipulator. To connect the external input device to the graphic simulator, the interface program of external input device with 6 DOF is deigned using the Low Level Tele-operation Interface (LLTI). The experimental result shows that the developed simulation system gives much-improved human interface characteristics and shows satisfactory response characteristics in terms of synchronization speed. This should be useful for the development of work's education system in the virtual environment

Remote handling facility and equipment used for space truss assembly

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burgess, T.W.

1987-01-01

The ACCESS truss remote handling experiments were performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL's) Remote Operation and Maintenance Demonstration (ROMD) facility. The ROMD facility has been developed by the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program to develop and demonstrate remote maintenance techniques for advanced nuclear fuel reprocessing equipment and other programs of national interest. The facility is a large-volume, high-bay area that encloses a complete, technologically advanced remote maintenance system that first began operation in FY 1982. The maintenance system consists of a full complement of teleoperated manipulators, manipulator transport systems, and overhead hoists that provide the capability of performing a large variety of remote handling tasks. This system has been used to demonstrate remote manipulation techniques for the DOE, the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC) of Japan, and the US Navy in addition to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. ACCESS truss remote assembly was performed in the ROMD facility using the Central Research Laboratory's (CRL) model M-2 servomanipulator. The model M-2 is a dual-arm, bilateral force-reflecting, master/slave servomanipulator which was jointly developed by CRL and ORNL and represents the state of the art in teleoperated manipulators commercially available in the United States today. The model M-2 servomanipulator incorporates a distributed, microprocessor-based digital control system and was the first successful implementation of an entirely digitally controlled servomanipulator. The system has been in operation since FY 1983. 3 refs., 2 figs

Development of the heavy manipulator vehicle system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herbst, C.; Paustian, P.; Kruger, W.

1993-01-01

After the severe reactor accident of Tschernobyl in 1986 MaK System started to develop a Heavy Manipulator Vehicle System under contract from German nuclear technology assistance company ''KHG'' (Kerntechnische Hilfsdienst GmbH). The system comprises a remote controlled manipulator vehicle, a mobile mission control stand as well as a transport/service unit. In order to fulfill the high demands of this complex system a couple of new developments had to be started. The paper describes some of these developments and gives an overview about the main features of the Heavy Manipulator Vehicle System (HMV). (author)

Primary reaction control system/remote manipulator system interaction with loaded arm. Space shuttle engineering and operations support

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, E. C.; Davis, J. D.

1978-01-01

A study of the interaction between the orbiter primary reaction control system (PRCS) and the remote manipulator system (RMS) with a loaded arm is documented. This analysis was performed with the Payload Deployment and Retrieval Systems Simulation (PDRSS) program with the passive arm bending option. The passive-arm model simulates the arm as massless elastic links with locked joints. The study was divided into two parts. The first part was the evaluation of the response of the arm to step inputs (i.e. constant jet torques) about each of the orbiter body axes. The second part of the study was the evaluation of the response of the arm to minimum impulse primary RCS jet firings with both single pulse and pulse train inputs.

Why high-capacity manipulators and lead glass windows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grisham, D.L.; Lambert, J.E.

1981-01-01

The Monitor remote-handling system was developed to maintain the main experimental beam line at the Clinton P. Anderson Meson Physics Facility (LAMPF) of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The technology and operating experience developed at LAMPF can be applied to other areas where handling of radioactive, hazardous, or toxic materials is required. These could include radiological incidents similar to Three Mile Island and toxic material spills, such as chlorine tank car derailments, where no provision for remote-handling exists. The technology can also be applied to routine radioactive remote-handling operations now conducted in conventional hot cells. These operations are normally done using mechanical master-slave manipulators with viewing through lead glass windows. The conventional facility can be replaced by a plain shielded box with an equivalent of the front end of Monitor inside. Master-slave manipulators of the future should be of 10-kg capacity with a force-reflection threshold of 0.2, minimum size, and provision for total sealing

Advance of the new MA 23 force reflecting manipulator system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vertut, Jean; Coiffet, Philippe; Petit, Michel

1976-01-01

This new bilateral servo manipulator system is under development since 1974, in close cooperation between different french organizations with the leadership of the Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique. This Group is facing in the same Technology different applications covering nuclear remote manipulation, undersea remote work, second generation industrial robots and manipulators for handicaped persons. Brief description of the different arms ranging from 5kg to 20kg mass capacity are given with corresponding tested performances. They all use original electric DC actuators with extremely low friction and zero backlash, with only cables and tapes. System works in different modes: the direct master slave force reflecting mode, an advanced tape recording programmer, minicomputer control, and the combined modes. Work is concentrated on full dynamic control and force control by minicomputer

Description of European Space Agency (ESA) Remote Manipulator (RM) System Breadboard Currently Under Development for Demonstration of Critical Technology Foreseen to be Used in the Mars Sample Receiving Facility (MSRF)

Science.gov (United States)

Vrublevskis, J.; Duncan, S.; Berthoud, L.; Bowman, P.; Hills, R.; McCulloch, Y.; Pisla, D.; Vaida, C.; Gherman, B.; Hofbaur, M.; Dieber, B.; Neythalath, N.; Smith, C.; van Winnendael, M.; Duvet, L.

2018-04-01

In order to avoid the use of 'double walled' gloves, a haptic feedback Remote Manipulation (RM) system rather than a gloved isolator is needed inside a Double Walled Isolator (DWI) to handle a sample returned from Mars.

Near-field acoustic microbead trapping as remote anchor for single particle manipulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hwang, Jae Youn [Department of Information and Communication Engineering, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Daegu (Korea, Republic of); Cheon, Dong Young; Shin, Hyunjune; Kim, Hyun Bin; Lee, Jungwoo, E-mail: jwlee@kw.ac.kr [Department of Electronic Engineering, Kwangwoon University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2015-05-04

We recently proposed an analytical model of a two-dimensional acoustic trapping of polystyrene beads in the ray acoustics regime, where a bead diameter is larger than the wavelength used. As its experimental validation, this paper demonstrates the transverse (or lateral) trapping of individual polystyrene beads in the near field of focused ultrasound. A 100 μm bead is immobilized on the central beam axis by a focused sound beam from a 30 MHz single element lithium niobate transducer, after being laterally displaced through hundreds of micrometers. Maximum displacement, a longest lateral distance at which a trapped bead can be directed towards the central axis, is thus measured over a discrete frequency range from 24 MHz to 36 MHz. The displacement data are found to be between 323.7 μm and 470.2 μm, depending on the transducer's driving frequency and input voltage amplitude. The experimental results are compared with their corresponding model values, and their relative errors lie between 0.9% and 3.9%. The results suggest that this remote maneuvering technique may be employed to manipulate individual cells through solid microbeads, provoking certain cellular reactions to localized mechanical disturbance without direct contact.

Rigid hoist articulated grapple system development for enhanced remote maintenance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Witham, C.; White, P.; Garin, J.

1979-01-01

Remote maintenance and repair within nuclear environments have become more demanding of remote manipulation equipment in the last few years. A deficiency exists in the array of tools available for dexterous operations of loads in the 180-kg range. The development of a manipulation system with enhanced operator controls is discussed. This system is a six-degree-of-freedom manipulator with bilateral servo control. It is to be attached to a mobile support boom in order to operate throughout the nuclear cell. The manipulator is intended to work in conjunction with light duty servomanipulators, overhead crane systems, and through-the-wall mechanical master slaves

Adaptable imaging package for remote vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean-Luc Liardon

2017-10-01

Full Text Available An easy-to-customize, low-cost solution for remote imagery is described. The system, denoted ImPROV (Imaging Package for Remote Vehicles, supports multiple cameras, live streaming, long-range encrypted communication using mobile networks, positioning and time-stamped imagery, etc. The adaptability of the system is demonstrated by its deployment on different remotely operated or autonomous vehicles, which include model aircraft, drones, balloon, kite and a submarine.

Dionis: A Novel Remote-Center-of-Motion Parallel Manipulator for Minimally Invasive Surgery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Beira

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The large volume and reduced dexterity of current surgical robotic systems are factors that restrict their effective performance. To improve the usefulness of surgical robots in minimally invasive surgery (MIS, a compact and accurate positioning mechanism, named Dionis, is proposed in this paper. This spatial hybrid mechanism based on a novel parallel kinematics is able to provide three rotations and one translation for single port procedures. The corresponding axes intersect at a remote center of rotation (RCM that is the MIS entry port. Another important feature of the proposed positioning manipulator is that it can be placed below the operating table plane, allowing a quick and direct access to the patient, without removing the robotic system. This, besides saving precious space in the operating room, may improve safety over existing solutions. The conceptual design of Dionis is presented in this paper. Solutions for the inverse and direct kinematics are developed, as well as the analytical workspace and singularity analysis. Due to its unique design and kinematics, the proposed mechanism is highly compact, stiff and its dexterity fullfils the workspace specifications for MIS procedures.

Supervised Remote Robot with Guided Autonomy and Teleoperation (SURROGATE): A Framework for Whole-Body Manipulation

Science.gov (United States)

Hebert, Paul; Ma, Jeremy; Borders, James; Aydemir, Alper; Bajracharya, Max; Hudson, Nicolas; Shankar, Krishna; Karumanchi, Sisir; Douillard, Bertrand; Burdick, Joel

2015-01-01

The use of the cognitive capabilties of humans to help guide the autonomy of robotics platforms in what is typically called "supervised-autonomy" is becoming more commonplace in robotics research. The work discussed in this paper presents an approach to a human-in-the-loop mode of robot operation that integrates high level human cognition and commanding with the intelligence and processing power of autonomous systems. Our framework for a "Supervised Remote Robot with Guided Autonomy and Teleoperation" (SURROGATE) is demonstrated on a robotic platform consisting of a pan-tilt perception head, two 7-DOF arms connected by a single 7-DOF torso, mounted on a tracked-wheel base. We present an architecture that allows high-level supervisory commands and intents to be specified by a user that are then interpreted by the robotic system to perform whole body manipulation tasks autonomously. We use a concept of "behaviors" to chain together sequences of "actions" for the robot to perform which is then executed real time.

Remote maintenance development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zook, C.R.

1979-01-01

The concept of remote maintenance as it pertains to nuclear fuel fabrication facilities is quite unique. The future may require completely remote facilities where maintenance will be performed by hybrid manipulators/robots. These units will be capable of being preprogrammed for automatic operation or manually operated with the operator becoming a part of the closed loop control system. These robots will mesh television, computer control, and direct force feedback manual control in a usable new concept of robotics

Dual-arm manipulation module for use in decontamination and decommissioning operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamel, W.R.; Haley, D.C.; Dixon, W.E.

1994-01-01

A dual-arm manipulation module is under development for application in decontamination and decommissioning (D ampersand D) tasks. The development is led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory with support from Sandia National Laboratories, and with university and industry participation. The project is part of the Robotics Technology Development Program funded by the US Department of Energy, Environmental Restoration and Waste Management, Office of Technology Development. The dual-arm module is designed to provide dexterous manipulation capability for remote characterization, decontamination, and dismantlement operations, and the module is reconfigurable to meet various deployment requirements. Remote manipulation capability can benefit D ampersand D activities through reduced worker exposure to both contaminant and industrial hazards. When tasks conditions permit, increased use of robotic features reduce costs by increased efficiency of operation

Remote operation of microwave systems for solids content analysis and chemical dissolution in highly radioactive environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sturcken, E.F.; Floyd, T.S.; Manchester, D.P.

1986-10-01

Microwave systems provide quick and easy determination of solids content of samples in high-level radioactive cells. In addition, dissolution of samples is much faster when employing microwave techniques. These are great advantages because work in cells,using master-slave manipulators through leaded glass walls, is normally slower by an order of magnitude than direct contact methods. This paper describes the modifiction of a moisture/solids analyzer microwave system and a drying/digestion microwave system for remote operation in radiation environments. The moisture/solids analyzer has operated satisfactorily for over a year in a gamma radiation field of 1000 roentgens per hour and the drying/digestion system is ready for installation in a cell

Reconfigurable mobile manipulation for accident response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, Robert J.; Morse, William D.; Shirey, David L.; Cdebaca, DanielL M.; Hoffman, John P. Jr.; Lucy, William E.

2000-01-01

The need for a telerobotic vehicle with hazard sensing and integral manipulation capabilities has been identified for use in transportation accidents where nuclear weapons are involved. The Accident Response Mobile Manipulation System (ARMMS) platform has been developed to provide remote dexterous manipulation and hazard sensing for the Accident Response Group (ARG) at Sandia National Laboratories. The ARMMS' mobility platform is a military HMMWV [High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle] that is teleoperated over RF or Fiber Optic communication channels. ARMMS is equipped with two high strength Schilling Titan II manipulators and a suite of hazardous gas and radiation sensors. Recently, a modular telerobotic control architecture call SMART (Sandia Modular Architecture for Robotic and Teleoperation) has been applied to ARMMS. SMART enables input devices and many system behaviors to be rapidly configured in the field for specific mission needs. This paper summarizes current SMART developments applied to ARMMS

Remote maintenance in nuclear fuel reprocessing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herndon, J.N.

1985-01-01

Remote maintenance techniques applied in large-scale nuclear fuel reprocessing plants are reviewed with particular attention to the three major maintenance philosophy groupings: contact, remote crane canyon, and remote/contact. Examples are given, and the relative success of each type is discussed. Probable future directions for large-scale reprocessing plant maintenance are described along with advanced manipulation systems for application in the plants. The remote maintenance development program within the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory is also described. 19 refs., 19 figs

Latest developments, by Taylor Hitec Ltd, in power manipulators and deployed robots for the nuclear industry and elsewhere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lowe, D.B.

1985-01-01

Taylor Hitec recently achieved a major advancement in remote manipulator engineering with the successful commissioning of the 'Advanced Manipulator' - a high precision tool for remote working, commanded by powerful computerised control developed in partnership with CEGB Marchwood. In the progression of the technology involved a second manipulator has been designed, with significant changes in mechanisms and is now in manufacture. A radically different implement has been conceived and pursued through to the prototype stage in the form of a 'vertebrate' limb for deploying remote inspection apparatus. The designs and capabilities of these three devices are presented here in essence and consideration is given to wider applications. (author)

Remote handling in nuclear fusion research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Removille, J.

1989-01-01

When the Joint European Torus (JET) commences operation in 1992, the neutron flux will increase by 2 or 3 orders of magnitude activating the components of the machine to such an extent as to prohibit the access of personnel into the machine hall to carry out maintenance tasks. This paper lists operations which will have to be carried out remotely either because they are essential to the routine running of the machine or in emergencies. Remotely operated equipment which has been developed to perform these tasks is described. It is based on a system of conveyors which carry manipulators and tools to their point of operation. The principal conveyors are: a telescopic articulated mast carried on a bridge over the machine enabling tasks around and above the torus to be performed; conveyors running on rails which can reach otherwise inaccessible regions beneath the machine; an articulated arm which can position a manipulator within the torus; and a radio controlled support vehicle running on caterpillar tracks carrying a camera and tools for connecting cables to other conveyors. The main features of the control room from which the conveyors, manipulators, tools and cameras are remotely operated is also described. (UK)

Development of nuclear fuel cycle remote handling technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, K. H.; Park, B. S.; Kim, S. H.

2012-04-01

This report presents the development of remote handling systems and remote equipment for use in the pyprocessing verification at the PRIDE (PyRoprocess Integrated inactive Demonstration facility). There are four areas conducted in this work. In first area, the prototypes of an engineering-scale high-throughput decladding voloxidizer which is capable of separating spent fuel rod-cuts into hulls and powder and collecting them separately, and an automatic equipment which is capable of collecting residual powder remaining on separated hulls were developed. In second area, a servo-manipulator system was developed to operate and maintain pyroprocess equipment located at the argon cell of the PRIDE in a remote manner. A servo-manipulator with dual arm that is mounted on the lower part of a bridge transporter will be installed on the ceiling of the in-cell and can travel the length of the ceiling. In third area, a digital mock-up and a remote handling evaluation mock-up were constructed to evaluate the pyroprocess equipments from the in-cell arrangements, remote operability and maintainability viewpoint before they are installed in the PRIDE. In last area, a base technology for remote automation of integrated pyroprocess was developed. The developed decladding voloxidizer and automatic equipment will be utilized in the development of a head-end process for pyroprocessing. In addition, the developed servo-manipulator will be used for remote operation and maintenance of the pyroprocess equipments in the PRIDE. The constructed digital mock-up and remote handling evaluation mock-up will be also used to verify and improve the pyroprocess equipments for the PRIDE application. Moreover, these remote technologies described above can be directly used in the PRIDE and applied for the KAPF (Korea Advanced Pyroprocess Facility) development

Failure of a yoke body pin of a remote handling device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kasiviswanathan, K.V.; Muralidharan, N.G.; Raj, B.

1984-01-01

This note analyses the cause of failure observed in a yoke body pin of a remote handling device (Master Slave Manipulator) used for handling highly radioactive materials, remotely in shielded enclosures. The yoke body constitutes an important part of the manipulator wrist assembly and was made out of AISI 420 grade steel as a single piece investment casting. (orig./IHOE) [de

Development and commissioning of a links type inspection manipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whitcomb, H.M.; Ford, G.T.

1988-01-01

In order to access a number of tortuous inspection routes in the Heysham II/Torness reactors, the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) Remote Inspection Group (RIG) have developed a 'links' type manipulator in conjunction with Babcock Power Ltd. This manipulator operates from the reactor pile cap and allows placement of a television camera within the pressure vessel up to 4m laterally from a standpipe of only 140mm in diameter. The design features of this novel manipulator are described together with the solutions developed to overcome particular difficulties experienced during commissioning. (author)

Control system design concepts for improving bilateral characteristics of master-slave manipulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hewitt, J.E.; Siva, K.V.

1986-01-01

The paper concerns control system design concepts for improving bilateral characteristics of master-slave manipulators. In particular, the article concentrates on the identification of the remote manipulative process itself from studying direct manipulation with hand tools. Bilateral servo loop systems in operator controlled manipular systems are discussed, as well as Bond Graph modelling techniques. The performance of different kinds of bilateral servos are compared. (U.K.)

Remote equipment technology. Final report for GFY 1880

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wadekamper, D.C.

1980-09-01

An interactive graphics terminal and a desk-top computer were utilized to perform a Computer Aided Remote Maintenance simulation of a hypothetical equipment item. The equipment item included an electrical connection, hydraulic fitting, and simple bolt pattern which were maintained by remote manipulators during the simulation. These remote maintenance operations demonstrated that the Computer Aided Remote Maintenance simulation technology could be extended to complex equipment items. As a result, these equipment items can be evaluated from the standpoint of remote operation and maintenance prior to purchase or installation in a remote processing or cell arrangement

Presentation of accessibility equipment for primary pipings, IHX, pumps and appertaining manipulator tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hahn, G.; Hoeft, E.

1980-01-01

Accessibility and inservice procedure of SNR-300 components are described. Due to the high radiation level in the primary system it was necessary to develop special equipment to permit access to the testing components. The pertinent examination methods for surveying welding seams are acoustic (ultrasonic) and optical procedures (TV cameras, surface crack tests). This can be done by remote-controlled manipulators and special devices, which can transport the inspection system by rails to the testing position. Presently, relatively limited experience exists for such remote-controlled handling in nuclear power plants. Thus model experiments were carried out on a model pipe section at INTERATOM. The performed test shows that the concept planned to perform inservice by using remote-controlled manipulators can be realized successfully. (author)

A historical perspective of remote operations and robotics in nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herndon, J.N.

1992-01-01

The field of remote technology is continuing to evolve to support man's efforts to perform tasks in hostile environments. The technology which we recognize today as remote technology has evolved over the last 45 years to support human operations in hostile environments such as nuclear fission and fusion, space, underwater, hazardous chemical, and hazardous manufacturing. The four major categories of approach to remote technology have been (1) protective clothing and equipment for direct human entry, (2) extended reach tools using distance for safety, (3) telemanipulators with barriers for safety, and (4) teleoperators incorporating mobility with distance and/or barriers for safety. The government and commercial nuclear industry has driven the development of the majority of the actual teleoperator hardware available today. This hardware has been developed largely due to the unsatisfactory performance of the protective-clothing approach in many hostile applications. Manipulation systems which have been developed include crane/impact wrench systems, unilateral power manipulators, mechanical master/slaves, and servomanipulators. Viewing systems have included periscopes, shield windows, and television systems. Experience over the past 45 years indicates that maintenance system flexibility is essential to typical repair tasks because they are usually not repetitive, structured, or planned. Fully remote design (manipulation, task provisions, remote tooling, and facility synergy) is essential to work task efficiency. Work for space applications has been primarily research oriented with relatively few successful space applications, although the shuttle's remote manipulator system has been quite successful. In the last decade, underwater applications have moved forward significantly, with the offshore oil industry and military applications providing the primary impetus

Electromechanical manipulator for the Hot-Cell Verification Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frandsen, G.B.; Brownstein, M.

1982-01-01

An electromechanical manipulator was deSigned and built to perform prototypic prequalification testing of FMEF equipment in the HCVF. Significant performance improvements were achieved; for example, 1360 kg (3000 lb) hoist capability and a 180 kg (400 lb) tool capacity anywhere within the manipulator reach and moving at full speed. New remote maintenance features were incorporated in the design including the ability to remove all active components on the bridge, which precludes the need to remove the bridge structure. 8 figures

Operating experience with remote handling equipment in a typical hot facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ravishankar, A.; Balasubramanian, G.R.

1990-01-01

Large number of articulated arm manipulators and special purpose remote tools have been used either alone or in combination in a recent campaign of treatment of irradiated J rods of CIRUS for separation of 233 U. These equipments were used for operations such as remote maintenance of centrifuge, centrifugal extractor, direct sampling, assistance for sample conveying operations etc. Paper discusses problems encountered in using articulated arm manipulators of type MAll,AMl and how they were overcome. Problems encountered in use of model-8 manipulator for chopper maintenence in a mockup facility are also highlighted. (author). 4 figs., 1 tab

Photonic Crystals: Two-Dimensional Programmable Manipulation of Magnetic Nanoparticles on-Chip (Adv. Mater. 15/2014)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sarella, Anandakumar; Torti, Andrea; Donolato, Marco

2014-01-01

P. Vavassori and co-workers demonstrate on page 2384 that field-controlled displacement of magnetic domain walls in ferromagnetic nano-ring structures allows for capture and 2-dimensional remote manipulation of fluidborne magnetic nanoparticles over a chip surface.......P. Vavassori and co-workers demonstrate on page 2384 that field-controlled displacement of magnetic domain walls in ferromagnetic nano-ring structures allows for capture and 2-dimensional remote manipulation of fluidborne magnetic nanoparticles over a chip surface....

Overhead remote handling systems for the process facility modifications project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wiesener, R.W.; Grover, D.L.

1987-01-01

Each of the cells in the process facility modifications (PFM) project complex is provided with a variety of general purpose remote handling equipment including bridge cranes, monorail hoist, bridge-mounted electromechanical manipulator (EMM) and an overhead robot used for high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter changeout. This equipment supplements master-slave manipulators (MSMs) located throughout the complex to provide an overall remote handling system capability. The overhead handling equipment is used for fuel and waste material handling operations throughout the process cells. The system also provides the capability for remote replacement of all in-cell process equipment which may fail or be replaced for upgrading during the lifetime of the facility

Vehicle-manipulator systems modeling for simulation, analysis, and control

CERN Document Server

From, Pal Johan; Pettersen, Kristin Ytterstad

2014-01-01

Furthering the aim of reducing human exposure to hazardous environments, this monograph presents a detailed study of the modeling and control of vehicle-manipulator systems. The text shows how complex interactions can be performed at remote locations using systems that combine the manipulability of robotic manipulators with the ability of mobile robots to locomote over large areas.  The first part studies the kinematics and dynamics of rigid bodies and standard robotic manipulators and can be used as an introduction to robotics focussing on robust mathematical modeling. The monograph then moves on to study vehicle-manipulator systems in great detail with emphasis on combining two different configuration spaces in a mathematically sound way. Robustness of these systems is extremely important and Modeling and Control of Vehicle-manipulator Systems effectively represents the dynamic equations using a mathematically robust framework. Several tools from Lie theory and differential geometry are used to obtain glob...

Ex-vessel remote maintenance design for the Compact Ignition Tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spampinato, P.T.; Macdonald, D.

1987-01-01

The use of deuterium-tritium (D-T) fuel for operation of the Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT) imposes a requirement for remote handling technology to carry out maintenance operations on auxiliary machine components. These operations consist of removing and repairing components such as diagnostics and radio frequency (rf) heating modules using remotely operated maintenance equipment. The major equipment that is being developed to accomplish maintenance external to the plasma chamber includes the bridge-mounted manipulator system for test cell operations, decontamination (decon) equipment, hot cell equipment, and solid rad-waste handling equipment. Wherever possible, the project will use commercially available equipment. Several areas of the maintenance system design have been addressed in fiscal year (FY) 1987. These included conceptual designs of manipulator systems, the start of a remote equipment research and development (R and D) program, and definition of the hot cell, decon, and equipment repair facility requirements. The manipulator work included investigating transporters and viewing/lighting subsystems. In each case, existing commercial units are being assessed initially, along with viable alternative approaches. R and D work also included demonstrations of remote handling operations on full-size, partial mock-ups of the CIT machine at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Remote Operations and Maintenance Development Facility

Remote tooling applications at the FFTF/IEM cell

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Webb, R.H.

1990-01-01

At the fast flux test facility, a US Government-owned 400-MW(thermal) sodium-cooled fast reactor, the interim examination and maintenance (IEM) cell is used for the remote disassembly of irradiated fuel and material experiments and remote maintenance operations. The IEM cell has been a challenging area both for maintenance and operation of remote equipment. Innovative tooling has been required to provide the reliability, strength and dexterity for performing myriad bolting, cutting, gripping, and other such functions. Over the years, a set of basic components that can be modified and adapted to several applications has been developed. These include torque multipliers, torque limiters, right-angle drives, and many common hand tools with fittings designed to be handled by master-slave manipulators (MSM) or electromechanical manipulator (EMM) hands. An example of such a system is the closed loop ex-vessel machine (CLEM) grapple change tool, which is designed for both hands-on use in a glove box and remote use in the IEM cell

Remote mixed oxide fabrication facility development. Volume 2. State-of-the-art review of remote maintenance system technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horgos, R.M.; Masch, M.L.

1979-06-01

This report provides a state-of-the-art review of remote systems technology, which includes manipulators, process connectors, vision systems and specialized process systems. A proposed mixed oxide fuel fabrication facility was reviewed and evaluated for identification of major remote maintenance and repair tasks. The technological areas were evaluated on the basis of their suitability or applicability for remote maintenance and repair of a proposed fully remote operating mixed oxide fuel fabrication facility. A technological base exists from which the design criteria for a reliable, remote operating facility can be established. Commercially available systems and components, along with those remote technologies now in development, will require modifications to adapt them to specific plant designs and requirements

Broadband reflected wavefronts manipulation using structured phase gradient metasurfaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiao-Peng Wang

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Acoustic metasurface (AMS is a good candidate to manipulate acoustic waves due to special acoustic performs that cannot be realized by traditional materials. In this paper, we design the AMS by using circular-holed cubic arrays. The advantages of our AMS are easy assemble, subwavelength thickness, and low energy loss for manipulating acoustic waves. According to the generalized Snell’s law, acoustic waves can be manipulated arbitrarily by using AMS with different phase gradients. By selecting suitable hole diameter of circular-holed cube (CHC, some interesting phenomena are demonstrated by our simulations based on finite element method, such as the conversion of incoming waves into surface waves, anomalous reflections (including negative reflection, acoustic focusing lens, and acoustic carpet cloak. Our results can provide a simple approach to design AMSes and use them in wavefront manipulation and manufacturing of acoustic devices.

System Integration for Real-Time Mobile Manipulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reza Oftadeh

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Mobile manipulators are one of the most complicated types of mechatronics systems. The performance of these robots in performing complex manipulation tasks is highly correlated with the synchronization and integration of their low-level components. This paper discusses in detail the mechatronics design of a four wheel steered mobile manipulator. It presents the manipulator's mechanical structure and electrical interfaces, designs low-level software architecture based on embedded PC-based controls, and proposes a systematic solution based on code generation products of MATLAB and Simulink. The remote development environment described here is used to develop real-time controller software and modules for the mobile manipulator under a POSIX-compliant, real-time Linux operating system. Our approach enables developers to reliably design controller modules that meet the hard real-time constraints of the entire low-level system architecture. Moreover, it provides a systematic framework for the development and integration of hardware devices with various communication mediums and protocols, which facilitates the development and integration process of the software controller.

Development of nuclear fuel cycle remote handling technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, K. H.; Park, B. S.; Kim, S. H.

2010-04-01

This report presents the development of remote handling systems and remote equipment for use in the pyprocessing verification at the PRIDE (PyRoprocess Integrated inactive Demonstration facility). There are three areas conducted in this work. In first area, developed were the prototypes of an engineering-scale high-throughput decladding voloxidizer which is capable of separating spent fuel rod-cuts into hulls and powder and collecting them separately and an automatic equipment which is capable of collecting residual powder remaining on separated hulls. In second area, a servo-manipulator prototype was developed to operate and maintain pyroprocess equipment located at the argon cell of the PRIDE in a remote manner. A servo-manipulator with dual arm that is mounted on the lower part of a bridge transporter will be installed on the ceiling of the in-cell and can travel the length of the ceiling. In last area, a simulator was developed to simulate and evaluate the design developments of the pyroprocess equipment from the in-cell arrangements, remote operability and maintainability viewpoint in a virtual process environment in advance before they are constructed. The developed decladding voloxidizer and automatic equipment will be utilized in the development of a head-end process for pyroprocessing. In addition, the developed servo-manipulator will be installed in the PRIDE and used for remote operation and maintenance of the pyroprocess equipment. The developed simulator will be also used to verify and improve the design of the pyroprocess equipment for the PRIDE application. Moreover, these remote technologies described above can be directly used in the PRIDE and applied for the ESPF (Engineering Scale Pyroprocess Facility) and KAPF (Korea Advanced Pyroprocess Facility) development

Remote handling machines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Shinri

1985-01-01

In nuclear power facilities, the management of radioactive wastes is made with its technology plus the automatic techniques. Under the radiation field, the maintenance or aid of such systems is important. To cope with this situation, MF-2 system, MF-3 system and a manipulator system as remote handling machines are described. MF-2 system consists of an MF-2 carrier truck, a control unit and a command trailer. It is capable of handling heavy-weight objects. The system is not by hydraulic but by electrical means. MF-3 system consists of a four-crawler truck and a manipulator. The truck is versatile in its posture by means of the four independent crawlers. The manipulator system is bilateral in operation, so that the delicate handling is made possible. (Mori, K.)

The operational challenge of remote maintenance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forsythe, L.

2015-01-01

Full text of publication follows. With the declining supply of fossil fuels that are used in power stations today, and the ongoing concern over climate change, nuclear fusion is one of the most promising options for generating large amounts of carbon-free energy in the future. Fuel supplies for fusion will be available for millions of years, with 1 kg of fusion fuel providing the same amount of energy as 10 thousand tonnes of fossil fuel. Unlike conventional fission reactors, the radioactive waste produced from fusion is short-lived, and will be safe to dispose of conventionally within 100 years. Although fusion has the huge advantage of being a carbon free energy source, there are complexities when it comes to maintaining the machine. Due to the nature of the fusion reaction, the components within the area of the reactor vacuum vessel become radioactive, which requires maintenance and modifications to be conducted remotely to protect human operators. Remote maintenance is the use of manipulators to carry out tasks in challenging or hostile environments, which would otherwise cause harm to humans. Remote handling slave manipulators do the work of a human by mimicking the movements from a master robotic manipulator that is controlled by a human operator. This means that remote handling can be used in many other areas other too, such as space; fission power plants; sub-sea; and nuclear material handling or in adverse environments such as: low or high temperature; chemically contaminated; combustible and low oxygen environments. Remote maintenance requires specialist engineers to take into consideration many aspects normally taken for granted when carrying out a task manually. Constraints such as the space around us; viewing and lighting; the human body's dexterity and flexibility; the weight and centre of gravity of tools and components, and how we securely grip and handle them; and access to fixings and fastenings. All these are factors that require careful

Development the interface system of master-slave manipulator and external input device on the graphic simulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, T. J.; Lee, J. Y.; Kim, S. H.; Yoon, J. S.

2002-01-01

The master-slave manipulator is the generally used as remote handling device in the hot cell, in which the high level radioactive materials such as spent fuels are handled. To analyze the motion of remote handling device and to simulate the remote handling operation task in the hot cell, the 3D graphic simulator which has been installed the master-slave manipulator is established. Also the interface program of external input device with 6 DOF(degree of Freedom) is developed and connected to graphic simulator with LLTI(Low Level Tele-operation Interface) which provides a uniquely optimized, high speed, bidirectional communication interface to one or more of system and processes

Remote tooling for inspection and repair in Pickering NGS-A calandria vault

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hadji-Mirzai, M.; Tokarz, A.; Vandenberg, J.P.

1993-01-01

In recent years it has been necessary to develop capabilities for the inspection and repair of carbon steel components located within calandria vaults at Ontario Hydro's Pickering Nuclear Generating Station 'A'. Concerns about corrosion of piping and some of the structural components have made necessary the development of remote manipulators to inspect and repair carbon steel components within the vaults to ensure continued reliable operation of the units. Remote manipulators for this program have been designed to perform a number of inspection and repair tasks, and several versions have been developed to specialise in detailed inspection techniques and precision tooling module manipulation. (author)

Master-slave type manipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haaker, L.W.; Jelatis, D.G.

1979-01-01

Remote control manipulator of the master-slave type for carrying out work on the other side of a shield wall. This appliance allows a Y movement relative displacement, the function of which is to extend the range of the manipulator towards the front and also to facilitate its installation, the lateral rotation or inclination of the slave arm in relation to the master arm, and the Z movement extension through which the length of the slave arm is increased in comparison with that of the master arm. Devices have been developed which transform the linear movements into rotational movements to enable these movements to be transmitted through rotational seal fittings capable of ensuring the safety of the separation between the operator's environment and that in the work area. Particular improvements have been made to the handles, handle seals, pincer mechanisms, etc [fr

Ex-vessel remote maintenance for the Compact Ignition Tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spampinato, P.T.; Macdonald, D.

1987-01-01

The use of deuterium-tritium (D-T) fuel for operation of the Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT) requires the use of remote handling technology to carry out maintenance operations on the machine. These operations consist in removing and repairing such components as diagnostic modules by using remotely operated maintenance equipment. The major equipment being developed for maintenance external to the plasma chamber includes a bridge-mounted manipulator system for test cell operations, decontamination (decon) equipment, hot cell equipment, and solid-radiation-waste-handling equipment. Wherever possible, the project will use commercially available equipment. Several areas of the maintenance system design were addressed in fiscal year (FY) 1987, including conceptual designs of manipulator systems, the start of a remote equipment research and development (RandD) program, and definition of the hot cell, decon, and equipment repair facility requirements. R and D work included preliminary demonstrations of remote handling operations on full-size, partial mock-ups of the CIT machine at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Remote Operations and Maintenance Development (ROMD) Facility. 1 ref., 6 figs

The TFTR maintenance manipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kungl, D.; Loesser, D.; Heitzenroeder, P.; Cerdan, G.

1989-01-01

TFTR plans to begin D-T experiments in mid 1990. The D-T experimental program will produce approximately one hundred shots, with a neutron generation rate of 10 19 neutrons per shot. This will result in high levels of activation in TFTR, especially in the vacuum vessel. The primary purpose of the Maintenance Manipulator is to provide a means of remotely performing certain defined maintenance and inspection tasks inside the vacuum torus so as to minimize personnel exposure to radiation. The manipulator consists of a six-link folding boom connected to a fixed boom on a movable carriage. The entire manipulator is housed in a vacuum antechamber connected to the vacuum torus, through a port formerly used for a vacuum pumping duct. The configuration extends 180 0 in either direction to provide complete coverage of the torus. The four 3500 l/s turbopumps which were formerly used in the pumping duct will be mounted on the antechamber. The manipulator will utilize two end effectors. The first, called a General Inspection Arm (GIA) provides a movable platform to an inspection camera and an in-vacuum leak detector. The second is a bilateral, force-reflecting pair of slave arms which utilize specially developed tools to perform several maintenance functions. All components except the slave arms are capable of operating in TFTR's vacuum environment and during 150 0 C bakeout of the torus. (orig.)

Traction-drive seven degrees-of-freedom telerobot arm: A concept for manipulation in space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuban, D.P.; Williams, D.M.

1987-01-01

As man seeks to expand his dominion into new environments, the demand increases for machines that perform useful functions in remote locations. This new concept for manipulation in space is based on knowledge and experience gained from manipulator systems developed to meet the needs of remote nuclear applications. It merges the best characteristics of teleoperation and robotic technologies. This paper summarizes the report of a study performed for NASA Langley Research Center. The design goals for the telerobot, a mechanical description, and technology areas that must be addressed for successful implementation will be presented and discussed. The concept incorporates mechanical traction drives, redundant kinematics, and modular arm subelements to provide a backlash-free manipulator capable of obstacle avoidance. Further development of this arm is in progress at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Development of nuclear power plant automated remote patrol system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakayama, R.; Kubo, K.; Sato, K.; Taguchi, J.

1984-01-01

An Automated Remote Patrol System was developed for a remote inspection, observation and monitoring of nuclear power plant's components. This automated remote patrol system consists of; a vehicle moving along a monorail; three rails mounted in a monorail for data transmission and for power supply; an image fiber connected to a TV camera; an arm type mechanism (manipulator) for moving image fiber; a computer for control and data processing and operator's console. Special features of this Automated Remote Patrol System are as follows: The inspection vehicle runs along horizontal and vertical (up/down) monorails. The arm type mechanism (manipulator) on the vehicle is used to move image fiber. Slide type electric collectors are used for data transmission and power supply. Time-division multiplexing is adapted for data transmission. Voice communication is used for controlling mechanisms. Pattern recognition is used for data processing. The experience that has been obtained from a series of various tests is summarized. (author)

Protozoa manipulation by ultrasound

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yancy Milena Porras Rodríguez

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Microorganism manipulation, considered as controlled motion and positioning, is one of the most important activities in microbiology and medicine. To achieve this goal there are some techniques such as those which and optical forces, among others. These techniques are usually sophisticated, and some of them can induce irreversible alterations on the microorganisms which prevents their use in another tests. Thus, there is justified the study of technological alternatives to manipulate microorganisms in an easy and cost-effective way. This work shows the interaction between protozoa and air microbubbles when they are under the influence of an ultrasonic field of 5.8 mW. At the microbubbles resonant frequencies, microorganisms were attracted toward the bubbles' frontier remaining there while the ultrasonic field was applied. Once the ultrasound disappears, protozoa recover their freedom of movement. The observed effects could be used as the actuation principle of devices capable to trap, hold and release microorganisms of high mobility without any apparent damage. Microbubbles are generated by electrolysis which take place on the surface of an electrode array, while the ultrasound is originated by means of a piezoelectric transducer. As microorganisms there were employed those present in stagnated water, and were observed through an stereomicroscope. Key words: manipulator; protozoa; ultrasonic; transducer; piezoelectric.

SAMSIN: the next-generation servo-manipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adams, R.H.; Jennrich, C.E.; Korpi, K.W.

1985-01-01

The Central Research Laboratories (CRL) Division of Sargent Industries is now developing SAMSIN, a next-generation servo-manipulator. SAMSIN is an acronym for Servo-Actuated Manipulator Systems with Intelligent Networks. This paper discusses the objectives of this development and describes the key features of the servo-manipulator system. There are three main objectives in the SAMSIN development: adaptability, reliability, and maintainability. SAMSIN utilizes standard Sargent/CRL sealed master and slave manipulator arms as well as newly developed compact versions. The mechanical arms have more than 20 yr of successful performance in industrial applications such as hot cells, high vacuums, fuel pools, and explosives handling. The servo-actuator package is in a protective enclosure, which may be sealed in various ways from the remote environment. The force limiting characteristics of the servo-actuators extend motion tendon life. Protective bootings increase the reliability of the arms in an environment that is high in airborne contamination. These bootings also simplify the decontamination of the system. The modularity in construction permits quick removal and replacement of slave arms, wrist joints, tong fingers, and actuator packages for maintenance. SAMSIN utilizes readily available off-the-shelf actuator and control system components. Each manipulator motion uses the same actuator and control system components

Two-Dimensional Programmable Manipulation of Magnetic Nanoparticles on-Chip

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sarella, Anandakumar; Torti, Andrea; Donolato, Marco

2014-01-01

A novel device is designed for on-chip selective trap and two-dimensional remote manipulation of single and multiple fluid-borne magnetic particles using field controlled magnetic domain walls in circular nanostructures. The combination of different ring-shaped nanostructures and field sequences ...

ORION - the OMEGA Remote Interactive On-line System

CERN Document Server

Russell, R D; Krieger, M

1973-01-01

ORION is a system which permits the manipulation of files, records and characters, remote job submittal and retrieval of output files including the direct loading of remote on-line computers. The system uses the computer hardware of the OMEGA project at CERN, and is designed to assist researchers in development and debugging of their programs.

Design concepts and advanced manipulator development for nuclear fuel cycle facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feldman, M.J.

1985-01-01

In the Fuel Recycle Division, Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a comprehensive remote systems development program has existed for the past seven years. The new remote technology under development is expected to significantly improve remote operations by extending the range of tasks accomplished by remote means and increasing the efficiency of remote work undertaken. The application of advanced manipulation is viewed as an essential part of a series of design directions whose sum describes a somewhat unique blend of old and new technology. A design direction based upon the Teletec concept is explained and recent progress in the development of an advanced servomanipulator-based maintenance concept is summarized to show that a new generation of remote systems is feasible through advanced technology. 14 refs., 14 figs

Remote Maintenance Design Guide for Compact Processing Units

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Draper, J.V.

2000-07-13

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Robotics and Process Systems (RPSD) personnel have extensive experience working with remotely operated and maintained systems. These systems require expert knowledge in teleoperation, human factors, telerobotics, and other robotic devices so that remote equipment may be manipulated, operated, serviced, surveyed, and moved about in a hazardous environment. The RPSD staff has a wealth of experience in this area, including knowledge in the broad topics of human factors, modular electronics, modular mechanical systems, hardware design, and specialized tooling. Examples of projects that illustrate and highlight RPSD's unique experience in remote systems design and application include the following: (1) design of a remote shear and remote dissolver systems in support of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) fuel recycling research and nuclear power missions; (2) building remotely operated mobile systems for metrology and characterizing hazardous facilities in support of remote operations within those facilities; (3) construction of modular robotic arms, including the Laboratory Telerobotic Manipulator, which was designed for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Advanced ServoManipulator, which was designed for the DOE; (4) design of remotely operated laboratories, including chemical analysis and biochemical processing laboratories; (5) construction of remote systems for environmental clean up and characterization, including underwater, buried waste, underground storage tank (UST) and decontamination and dismantlement (D&D) applications. Remote maintenance has played a significant role in fuel reprocessing because of combined chemical and radiological contamination. Furthermore, remote maintenance is expected to play a strong role in future waste remediation. The compact processing units (CPUs) being designed for use in underground waste storage tank remediation are examples of improvements in systems

Acoustic Devices for Particle and Cell Manipulation and Sensing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yongqiang Qiu

2014-08-01

Full Text Available An emerging demand for the precise manipulation of cells and particles for applications in cell biology and analytical chemistry has driven rapid development of ultrasonic manipulation technology. Compared to the other manipulation technologies, such as magnetic tweezing, dielectrophoresis and optical tweezing, ultrasonic manipulation has shown potential in a variety of applications, with its advantages of versatile, inexpensive and easy integration into microfluidic systems, maintenance of cell viability, and generation of sufficient forces to handle particles, cells and their agglomerates. This article briefly reviews current practice and reports our development of various ultrasonic standing wave manipulation devices, including simple devices integrated with high frequency (>20 MHz ultrasonic transducers for the investigation of biological cells and complex ultrasonic transducer array systems to explore the feasibility of electronically controlled 2-D and 3-D manipulation. Piezoelectric and passive materials, fabrication techniques, characterization methods and possible applications are discussed. The behavior and performance of the devices have been investigated and predicted with computer simulations, and verified experimentally. Issues met during development are highlighted and discussed. To assist long term practical adoption, approaches to low-cost, wafer level batch-production and commercialization potential are also addressed.

In-cell maintenance by manipulator arm with 3D workspace information recreated by laser rangefinder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kitamura, Akihiro; Nakai, Koji; Namekawa, Takashi; Watahiki, Masatoshi

2011-01-01

Highlights: → We developed a remote control system for maintenance of in-cell type fuel fabrication equipment. → The system display recreated three-dimensional information of the workspace from data obtained by laser rangefinder and conventional cameras. It has allowed us to operate a manipulator arm remotely with several control modes. → We implemented remote handling experiments using mock up equipment. Performance was compared for remote operation conducted using several different display and operation modes. → It was observed that integration of 3D information from the laser rangefinder reduced operation time and reinforced visual information during remote operation. - Abstract: We developed a remote control system for maintenance of in-cell type fuel fabrication equipment. The system display recreated three-dimensional information of the workspace from data obtained by laser rangefinder and conventional cameras. It has allowed us to operate a manipulator arm remotely with several control modes. In order to evaluate the effectiveness and usefulness of developed system, we implemented remote handling experiments using mock up equipment. Performance was compared for remote operation conducted using several different display and operation modes. We confirmed that the system is able to maintain in-cell fuel fabrication equipment in each display and operation mode. Times required to complete the remote operations were collected and compared in each mode. It was observed that integration of 3D information from the laser rangefinder reduced operation time and reinforced visual information during remote operation.

Full scale tests on remote handled FFTF fuel assembly waste handling and packaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allen, C.R.; Cash, R.J.; Dawson, S.A.; Strode, J.N.

1986-01-01

Handling and packaging of remote handled, high activity solid waste fuel assembly hardware components from spent FFTF reactor fuel assemblies have been evaluated using full scale components. The demonstration was performed using FFTF fuel assembly components and simulated components which were handled remotely using electromechanical manipulators, shielding walls, master slave manipulators, specially designed grapples, and remote TV viewing. The testing and evaluation included handling, packaging for current and conceptual shipping containers, and the effects of volume reduction on packing efficiency and shielding requirements. Effects of waste segregation into transuranic (TRU) and non-transuranic fractions also are discussed

ORION-the Omega Remote Interactive On-line System

CERN Document Server

Russell, R D; Levratt, B; Lipps, H; Sparrman, P

1974-01-01

ORION is a system which permits the manipulation of files, records and characters, remote job submittal and retrieval of output files including the direct loading of remote on-line computers. The system uses the computer hardware of the OMEGA project at CERN and is designed to assist researchers in development and debugging of their programs. (10 refs).

Manipulation robot system based on visual guidance for sealing blocking plate of steam generator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duan Xingguang; Wang Yonggui; Li Meng; Kong Xiangzhan; Liu Qingsong

2016-01-01

To reduce labor intensity and irradiation exposure time inside the steam generator during the maintenance period of the nuclear power plant, a blocking plate manipulation robot system, including manipulation robot and pneumatic control console, is developed as an automatic remote-control tool to help staff to complete sealing steam generator primary pipes. The manipulation robot for fastening/loosening bolts utilizes visual guidance for target position, and the recognition algorithm is exerted to extract the bolt center coordinate values from image captured by camera in the procedure. The control strategy based on the position and current feedback is proposed for single bolt operation and whole bolts automatic operation. Meanwhile, the virtual interactive interface and remote monitoring are designed to improve the operability and safety. Finally, the relative experiments have verified the work effectiveness and the future work would be discussed. (author)

Master--slave manipulators and remote maintenance at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jenness, R.G.; Wicker, C.D.

1975-01-01

The volume of master-slave manipulator maintenance at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has necessitated the establishment of a repair facility and the organization of a specially trained group of craftsmen. Emphasis on cell containment requires the use of manipulator boots and the development of precise procedures for accomplishing the maintenance of 283 installed units. To provide the most economical type of preventive maintenance, a very satisfactory computer-programmed maintenance system has been established at the Laboratory. (auth)

Why do spinal manipulation techniques take the form they do? Towards a general model of spinal manipulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, David W

2010-06-01

For centuries, techniques used to manipulate joints in the spine have been passed down from one generation of manipulators to the next. Today, spinal manipulation is in the curious position that positive clinical effects have now been demonstrated, yet the theoretical base underpinning every aspect of its use is still underdeveloped. An important question is posed in this masterclass: why do spinal manipulation techniques take the form they do? From the available literature, two factors appear to provide an answer: 1. Action of a force upon vertebrae. Any 'direct' spinal manipulation technique requires that the patient be orientated in such a way that force is applied perpendicular to the overlying skin surface so as to act upon the vertebrae beneath. If the vertebral motion produced by 'directly' applied force is insufficient to produce the desired effect (e.g. cavitation), then force must be applied 'indirectly', often through remote body segments such as the head, thorax, abdomen, pelvis, and extremities. 2. Spinal segment morphology. A new hypothesis is presented. Spinal manipulation techniques exploit the morphology of vertebrae by inducing rotation at a spinal segment, about an axis that is always parallel to the articular surfaces of the constituent zygapophysial joints. In doing so, the articular surfaces of one zygapophysial joint appose to the point of contact, resulting in migration of the axis of rotation towards these contacting surfaces, and in turn this facilitates gapping of the other (target) zygapophysial joint. Other variations in the form of spinal manipulation techniques are likely to depend upon the personal style and individual choices of the practitioner.

Water hydraulic manipulator for fail safe and fault tolerant remote handling operations at ITER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nieminen, Peetu; Esque, Salvador; Muhammad, Ali; Mattila, Jouni; Vaeyrynen, Jukka; Siuko, Mikko; Vilenius, Matti

2009-01-01

Department of Intelligent Hydraulics and Automation (IHA) of Tampere University of Technology has been involved in the European Fusion program since 1994 within the ITER reactor maintenance activities. In this paper we discuss the design and development of a six degrees of freedom water hydraulic manipulator with a force feedback for teleoperation tasks. The manipulator is planned to be delivered to Divertor Test Platform 2 (DTP2) during year 2008. The paper also discusses the possibility to improve the fail safe and redundant operation of the manipulator. During the design of the water hydraulic manipulator, special provisions have been made in order to meet the safety requirements such as servo valve block for redundant operation and safety vane brakes for fail safe operation.

Experimental characterization of a binary actuated parallel manipulator

Science.gov (United States)

Giuseppe, Carbone

2016-05-01

This paper describes the BAPAMAN (Binary Actuated Parallel MANipulator) series of parallel manipulators that has been conceived at Laboratory of Robotics and Mechatronics (LARM). Basic common characteristics of BAPAMAN series are described. In particular, it is outlined the use of a reduced number of active degrees of freedom, the use of design solutions with flexural joints and Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) actuators for achieving miniaturization, cost reduction and easy operation features. Given the peculiarities of BAPAMAN architecture, specific experimental tests have been proposed and carried out with the aim to validate the proposed design and to evaluate the practical operation performance and the characteristics of a built prototype, in particular, in terms of operation and workspace characteristics.

Remote maintenance design activities and research and development accomplishments for the Compact Ignition Tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spampinato, P.T.

1988-01-01

The use of deuterium-tritium (D-T) fuel for the Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT) requires the use of remote handling technology to carry out maintenance operations. The remote operations consist of removing and replacing such components as first wall armor protection tiles, radio-frequency (rf) heating modules, and diagnostic modules. The major pieces of equipment being developed for maintenance activities internal to the vacuum vessel include an articulated boom manipulator (ABM), an inspection manipulator, and special tooling. For activities external to the vessel, the equipment includes a bridge-mounted manipulator system, decontamination equipment, hot cell equipment, and solid radiation-waste (rad-waste) handling and packaging equipment. The CIT Project is completing the conceptual design phase; research and development (R and D) activities, which include demonstrations of remote maintenance operations on full-size partial mock-ups are under way. 5 figs

Remote maintenance design activities and research and development accomplishments for the compact ignition tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spampinato, P.T.

1989-01-01

The use of deuterium-tritium (D-T) fuel for the Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT) requires the use of remote handling technology in order to carry out maintenance operations. The remote operations consist of removing and replacing such components as first wall armor protection tiles, radio-frequency (RF) heating modules, and diagnostic modules. The major pieces of equipment being developed for maintenance operations internal to the vacuum vessel include an articulated boom manipulator (ABM), an inspection manipulator, and special tooling. For operations external to the vessel, the equipment includes a bridge-mounted manipulator system, decontamination equipment, hot cell equipment, and solid radioactive waste (rad-waste) handling and packaging equipment. The CIT Project is completing the conceptual design phase; research and development (R and D) activities, which include demonstrations of remote maintenance operations on full-size partial mock-ups are under way. (orig.)

Robotics and remote systems applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rabold, D.E.

1996-01-01

This article is a review of numerous remote inspection techniques in use at the Savannah River (and other) facilities. These include: (1) reactor tank inspection robot, (2) californium waste removal robot, (3) fuel rod lubrication robot, (4) cesium source manipulation robot, (5) tank 13 survey and decontamination robots, (6) hot gang valve corridor decontamination and junction box removal robots, (7) lead removal from deionizer vessels robot, (8) HB line cleanup robot, (9) remote operation of a front end loader at WIPP, (10) remote overhead video extendible robot, (11) semi-intelligent mobile observing navigator, (12) remote camera systems in the SRS canyons, (13) cameras and borescope for the DWPF, (14) Hanford waste tank camera system, (15) in-tank precipitation camera system, (16) F-area retention basin pipe crawler, (17) waste tank wall crawler and annulus camera, (18) duct inspection, and (19) deionizer resin sampling

Telemanipulation - a special activity in remotely controlled operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rose, K.W.; Andre, Y.

1992-01-01

Work to be done in areas hostile to humans needs special and careful preparation. If short-term entry is possible, groups of men can be trained to do the necessary work. If not, special devices have to be designed, built, and tested on mockups before the real work can be executed. Based on experience gained from maintenance in car production and test programs for a reprocessing facility, it was decided to train a special group of men to do remotely controlled work in hostile areas without endangering them and to use their personal experience as the basis for future work. This is the old-fashioned way of all professions. Some needs to be able to do that remotely controlled work with normally existing operational means and combinations of them like cranes, mechanical and electromechanical master slave manipulators (MMSMs and EMSMs), saws, files, hammer, tig-welding equipment, etc., in air as well as underwater. This paper discusses use of a remote operator manipulator (ROM), remote operator welder (ROW), a test of underwater work, and the repair of two activated jets pumps of a boiling water reactor BWR with a fueling machine, reactor crane, EMSM, and conventional tools

An easy-to-build remote laboratory with data transfer using the Internet School Experimental System

Science.gov (United States)

Schauer, František; Lustig, František; Dvořák, Jiří; Ožvoldová, Miroslava

2008-07-01

The present state of information communication technology makes it possible to devise and run computer-based e-laboratories accessible to any user with a connection to the Internet, equipped with very simple technical means and making full use of web services. Thus, the way is open for a new strategy of physics education with strongly global features, based on experiment and experimentation. We name this strategy integrated e-learning, and remote experiments across the Internet are the foundation for this strategy. We present both pedagogical and technical reasoning for the remote experiments and outline a simple system based on a server-client approach, and on web services and Java applets. We give here an outline of the prospective remote laboratory system with data transfer using the Internet School Experimental System (ISES) as hardware and ISES WEB Control kit as software. This approach enables the simple construction of remote experiments without building any hardware and virtually no programming, using a paste and copy approach with typical prebuilt blocks such as a camera view, controls, graphs, displays, etc. We have set up and operate at present seven experiments, running round the clock, with more than 12 000 connections since 2005. The experiments are widely used in practical teaching of both university and secondary level physics. The recording of the detailed steps the experimentor takes during the measurement enables detailed study of the psychological aspects of running the experiments. The system is ready for a network of universities to start covering the basic set of physics experiments. In conclusion we summarize the results achieved and experiences of using remote experiments built on the ISES hardware system.

An easy-to-build remote laboratory with data transfer using the Internet School Experimental System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schauer, Frantisek; Ozvoldova, Miroslava; Lustig, Frantisek; Dvorak, JirI

2008-01-01

The present state of information communication technology makes it possible to devise and run computer-based e-laboratories accessible to any user with a connection to the Internet, equipped with very simple technical means and making full use of web services. Thus, the way is open for a new strategy of physics education with strongly global features, based on experiment and experimentation. We name this strategy integrated e-learning, and remote experiments across the Internet are the foundation for this strategy. We present both pedagogical and technical reasoning for the remote experiments and outline a simple system based on a server-client approach, and on web services and Java applets. We give here an outline of the prospective remote laboratory system with data transfer using the Internet School Experimental System (ISES) as hardware and ISES WEB Control kit as software. This approach enables the simple construction of remote experiments without building any hardware and virtually no programming, using a paste and copy approach with typical prebuilt blocks such as a camera view, controls, graphs, displays, etc. We have set up and operate at present seven experiments, running round the clock, with more than 12 000 connections since 2005. The experiments are widely used in practical teaching of both university and secondary level physics. The recording of the detailed steps the experimentor takes during the measurement enables detailed study of the psychological aspects of running the experiments. The system is ready for a network of universities to start covering the basic set of physics experiments. In conclusion we summarize the results achieved and experiences of using remote experiments built on the ISES hardware system

An easy-to-build remote laboratory with data transfer using the Internet School Experimental System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schauer, Frantisek; Ozvoldova, Miroslava [Trnava University, Faculty of Pedagogy, Department of Physics, Trnava (Slovakia); Lustig, Frantisek; Dvorak, JirI [Charles University, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Department of Didactics of Physics, Prague (Czech Republic)], E-mail: fschauer@ft.utb.cz

2008-07-15

The present state of information communication technology makes it possible to devise and run computer-based e-laboratories accessible to any user with a connection to the Internet, equipped with very simple technical means and making full use of web services. Thus, the way is open for a new strategy of physics education with strongly global features, based on experiment and experimentation. We name this strategy integrated e-learning, and remote experiments across the Internet are the foundation for this strategy. We present both pedagogical and technical reasoning for the remote experiments and outline a simple system based on a server-client approach, and on web services and Java applets. We give here an outline of the prospective remote laboratory system with data transfer using the Internet School Experimental System (ISES) as hardware and ISES WEB Control kit as software. This approach enables the simple construction of remote experiments without building any hardware and virtually no programming, using a paste and copy approach with typical prebuilt blocks such as a camera view, controls, graphs, displays, etc. We have set up and operate at present seven experiments, running round the clock, with more than 12 000 connections since 2005. The experiments are widely used in practical teaching of both university and secondary level physics. The recording of the detailed steps the experimentor takes during the measurement enables detailed study of the psychological aspects of running the experiments. The system is ready for a network of universities to start covering the basic set of physics experiments. In conclusion we summarize the results achieved and experiences of using remote experiments built on the ISES hardware system.

Manipulator for inspection or repair of heat exchanger tubes, in particular in steam generators for nuclear reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gugel, G.

1979-01-01

The manipulator used to inspect or repair pipes in the steam generator chamber of a PWR can be introduced and removed through a penetration nozzle which can be sealed tightly by means of a blind flange. The front end of the manipulator carries a swivel arm which can be operated remotely to be moved in a plane parallel to the tube plate. The end of the swivel arm carries a holder for a mouthpiece which can be extended and retracted. This carrier can also be operated remotely so as to be aligned to the pipe orifices in a direction normal to the swivel plane of the swivel arm. The manipulator is supported in antifriction bearings in the penetration nozzle so as to be movable longitudinally. (DG) [de

Whole arm manipulation planning based on feedback velocity fields and sampling-based techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Talaei, B; Abdollahi, F; Talebi, H A; Omidi Karkani, E

2013-09-01

Changing the configuration of a cooperative whole arm manipulator is not easy while enclosing an object. This difficulty is mainly because of risk of jamming caused by kinematic constraints. To reduce this risk, this paper proposes a feedback manipulation planning algorithm that takes grasp kinematics into account. The idea is based on a vector field that imposes perturbation in object motion inducing directions when the movement is considerably along manipulator redundant directions. Obstacle avoidance problem is then considered by combining the algorithm with sampling-based techniques. As experimental results confirm, the proposed algorithm is effective in avoiding jamming as well as obstacles for a 6-DOF dual arm whole arm manipulator. Copyright © 2013 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Remote operation and maintenance demonstration facility at ORNL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harvey, H.W.; Floyd, S.D.; Kuban, D.P.; Singletary, B.H.; Stradley, J.G.

1978-01-01

The Remote Operation and Maintenance Facility is a versatile facility arranged to mock up various hot cell configurations. Modular units of simulated shielding and viewing windows were built to provide flexibility in arrangement. The facility is fully equipped with hoists, manipulators, television, and other basic equipment and services necessary to provide capability for both remote operation and maintenance of several selected functional process equipment groups

Remote sensing of natural resources. Quarterly literature review, October-December 1980

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzales, R.W.; Inglis, M.H.

1981-02-01

This review covers literature pertaining to documented data and data gathering techniques that are performed or obtained remotely from space, aircraft, or ground-based stations. All of the documentation is related to remote sensing sensors or the remote sensing of the natural resources. Section headings are: general; geology; environmental quality; hydrology; vegetation; oceanography; regional planning and land use; data manipulation; and instrumentation and technology

Combined long reach and dexterous manipulation for waste storage tank applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burks, B.L.; Armstrong, G.A.; Butler, P.L.; Boissiere, P.

1991-01-01

One of the highest priority environmental restoration tasks within the Department of Energy (DOE) is the remediation of single-shell waste storage tanks (WSTs), especially those suspected of, or documented as, leakers. Most currently proposed approaches for remediation of large underground WSTs require application of remotely operated long-reach (greater than 10 m), high-lift capacity (greater than 200 kg) manipulator systems. Because of the complexity of in-tank hardware, waste forms, remediation tasks, and variety of end-effector tools, these manipulator systems must also be capable of performing a diverse set of dexterous manipulations. This presentation will describe the integration of a Spar RMS 2500 manipulator system, a Schilling Titan-7F manipulator, and control systems developed at ORNL and SNL to provide a combined long reach and dexterous manipulation system. The purpose of integrating these two manipulator systems was to study and demonstrate their combined performance, evaluate design requirements for a deployed system, and provide a testbed for control and end-effector technologies that might be applicable to remediation of WSTs. 5 refs

Global manipulation of digital images can lead to variation in cytological diagnosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Prasad, H; Wanjari, Sangeeta; Parwani, Rajkumar

2011-03-31

With the adoption of a completely electronic workflow by several journals and the advent of telepathology, digital imaging has become an integral part of every scientific research. However, manipulating digital images is very easy, and it can lead to misinterpretations. To analyse the impact of manipulating digital images on their diagnosis. Digital images were obtained from Papanicolaou-stained smears of dysplastic and normal oral epithelium. They were manipulated using GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) to alter their brightness and contrast and color levels. A Power Point presentation composed of slides of these manipulated images along with the unaltered originals arranged randomly was created. The presentation was shown to five observers individually who rated the images as normal, mild, moderate or severe dysplasia. Weighted κ statistics was used to measure and assess the levels of agreement between observers. Levels of agreement between manipulated images and original images varied greatly among observers. Variation in diagnosis was in the form of overdiagnosis or under-diagnosis, usually by one grade. Global manipulations of digital images of cytological slides can significantly affect their interpretation. Such manipulations should therefore be kept to a minimum, and avoided wherever possible.

Development of a ROV titanium manipulator for light work class ROV vehicles

OpenAIRE

Garay, Gaizka X.; Sosa, Dario

2016-01-01

This paper shows the development of a high technical equipment to be used as tooling of submersible ROV (Remote Operated Vehicles) for offshore operations, particularly the design and fabrication by Additive Manufacturing (AM) of a Titanium Manipulator for ROVs. From the initial concept and design until a new formed company “TITANROB”, this document shortly describes the fabrication of hydraulic titanium manipulators for mid size ROV vehicles, the TitanRob series M501, G500 ...

Remote removal of contaminated equipment from a radiochemical engineering cell

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scharnhorst, N.L.; Bryan, G.H.; Bjorklund, W.J.

1984-01-01

Large-scale vitrification equipment in a radioactive cell was dismantled and packed for burial through the use of viewing windows with manipulators, two overhead cranes, and unique tools for disassembling, grabbing, and handling the equipment components. An air-driven reciprocating hacksaw, remotely placed and operated, was used to cut large structural members inaccessible by the manipulators. Remotely operated circular saws and a plasma torch were used to cut calciners, furnaces, storage vessels, piping, pumps, and structural members into pieces that were placed safely into shielded burial boxes. This engineering effort was accomplished without any exposure problems in approximately 17 months, which required almost 10 equivalent worker-years. 8 figures, 1 table

Instantaneous characterization of vegetable oils via TAG and FFA profiles by easy ambient sonic-spray ionization mass spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Simas, Rosineide C; Catharino, Rodrigo R; Cunha, Ildenize B S; Cabral, Elaine C; Barrera-Arellano, Daniel; Eberlin, Marcos N; Alberici, Rosana M

2010-04-01

A fast and reliable method is presented for the analysis of vegetable oils. Easy ambient sonic-spray ionization mass spectrometry (EASI-MS) is shown to efficiently desorb and ionize the main oil constituents from an inert surface under ambient conditions and to provide comprehensive triacylglyceride (TAG) and free fatty acid (FFA) profiles detected mainly as either [TAG + Na](+) or [FFA-H](-) ions. EASI(+/-)-MS analysis is simple, easily implemented, requires just a tiny droplet of the oil and is performed without any pre-separation or chemical manipulation. It also causes no fragmentation of TAG ions hence diacylglyceride (DAG) and monoacylglyceride (MAG) profiles and contents can also be measured. The EASI(+/-)-MS profiles of TAG and FFA permit authentication and quality control and can be used, for instance, to access levels of adulteration, acidity, oxidation or hydrolysis of vegetable oils in general.

Novel remote monitoring platform for RES-hydrogen based smart microgrid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

González, I.; Calderón, A.J.; Andújar, J.M.

2017-01-01

Highlights: • A remote monitoring platform is developed to monitor an experimental smart microgrid. • Smart microgrid integrates renewable energy sources (solar and wind) and hydrogen. • The platform is implemented using open-source tool Easy Java/Javascript Simulations. • Remote user accesses online to graphical/numerical information of all components. • Results show proper operation of the SMG and prove effective real-time monitoring. - Abstract: In the context of the future power grids – Smart Grids (SGs) – Smart MicroGrids (SMGs) play a paramount role. These ones are very specific portions of the SGs that deal with integration of small-rated distributed energy and storage resources closer to the loads – chiefly within the distribution domain. Data acquisition and monitoring tasks are vital functions that must be developed at every stage of the grid for a proper operation. This paper presents a remote monitoring platform (RMP) to monitor an experimental SMG. It integrates Renewable Energy Sources (RESs) (solar and wind) and hydrogen to operate in isolated regime. The RMP has been developed using the open-source authoring tool Easy Java/Javascript Simulations (EJsS). The interface has been designed to be intuitive and easy-to-use, providing real-time information of all the involved magnitudes over the network. Scalability, easy development, portability and cost effective are the main features of the proposed framework. The microgrid and the proposed monitoring platform are described and the successful results are reported. The remote user executes a ready-to-use file with low computational requirements and is enabled to graphically and numerically track the SMG behaviour. These results prove the suitability of the RMP as an effective means for continuous visualization of the coordinated energy flows of a real SMG.

Proceedings of FED remote maintenance equipment workshop

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sager, P.; Garin, J.; Hager, E.R.; Spampinato, P.T.; Tobias, D.; Young, N.

1981-11-01

A workshop was convened in two sessions in January and March 1981, on the remote maintenance equipment for the Fusion Engineering Device (FED). The objectives of the first session were to familiarize the participants with the status of the design of the FED and to develop a remote maintenance equipment list for the FED. The objective of the second session was to have the participants present design concepts for the equipment which had been identified in the first session. The equipment list was developed for general purpose and special purpose equipment. The general purpose equipment was categorized as manipulators and other, while the special purpose equipment was subdivided according to the reactor subsystem it serviced: electrical, magnetic, and nuclear. Both mobile and fixed base manipulators were identified. Handling machines were identified as the major requirement for special purpose equipment

Remotely controlled working equipment and mobile systems for damage assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koehler, G.W.; Salaske, M.

1975-01-01

All functions of the MF3 vehicle with its variable geometry chassis were verified in accordance with specifications. Fixed price bids have now been submitted by industries on the action control system and the EMSM II manipulators. Tests of the EMSM I manipulator with supplements especially the remotely controlled application of tools, have been started. (orig.) [de

Manipulator Performance Evaluation Using Fitts' Taping Task

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Draper, J.V.; Jared, B.C.; Noakes, M.W.

1999-04-25

Metaphorically, a teleoperator with master controllers projects the user's arms and hands into a re- mote area, Therefore, human users interact with teleoperators at a more fundamental level than they do with most human-machine systems. Instead of inputting decisions about how the system should func- tion, teleoperator users input the movements they might make if they were truly in the remote area and the remote machine must recreate their trajectories and impedance. This intense human-machine inter- action requires displays and controls more carefully attuned to human motor capabilities than is neces- sary with most systems. It is important for teleoperated manipulators to be able to recreate human trajectories and impedance in real time. One method for assessing manipulator performance is to observe how well a system be- haves while a human user completes human dexterity tasks with it. Fitts' tapping task has been, used many times in the past for this purpose. This report describes such a performance assessment. The International Submarine Engineering (ISE) Autonomous/Teleoperated Operations Manipulator (ATOM) servomanipulator system was evalu- ated using a generic positioning accuracy task. The task is a simple one but has the merits of (1) pro- ducing a performance function estimate rather than a point estimate and (2) being widely used in the past for human and servomanipulator dexterity tests. Results of testing using this task may, therefore, allow comparison with other manipulators, and is generically representative of a broad class of tasks. Results of the testing indicate that the ATOM manipulator is capable of performing the task. Force reflection had a negative impact on task efficiency in these data. This was most likely caused by the high resistance to movement the master controller exhibited with the force reflection engaged. Measurements of exerted forces were not made, so it is not possible to say whether the force reflection helped

Kinematics modeling and experimentation of the multi-manipulator tooth-arrangement robot for full denture manufacturing.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yong-de; Jiang, Jin-gang; Liang, Ting; Hu, Wei-ping

2011-12-01

Artificial teeth are very complicated in shape, and not easy to be grasped and manipulated accurately by a single robot. The method of tooth-arrangement by multi-manipulator for complete denture manufacturing proposed in this paper. A novel complete denture manufacturing mechanism is designed based on multi-manipulator and dental arch generator. Kinematics model of the multi-manipulator tooth-arrangement robot is built by analytical method based on tooth-arrangement principle for full denture. Preliminary experiments on tooth-arrangement are performed using the multi-manipulator tooth-arrangement robot prototype system. The multi-manipulator tooth-arrangement robot prototype system can automatically design and manufacture a set of complete denture that is suitable for a patient according to the jaw arch parameters. The experimental results verified the validity of kinematics model of the multi-manipulator tooth-arrangement robot and the feasibility of the manufacture strategy of complete denture fulfilled by multi-manipulator tooth-arrangement robot.

Manipulator for plasma-assisted machining of components made of materials with low machinability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lyaoshchukov, M.M.; Agadzhanyan, R.A.

1984-01-01

The All-Union Scientific-Research and Technological Institute of Pump Engineering developed, and the ''Uralgidromash'' Production Association has adopted, a manipulator with remote control for the plasma-assisted machining (PAM) of components made of materials with low machinability. The manipulator is distinguished by its universal design and can be used for machining both external and internal surfaces of the bodies of revolution and also end faces and various curvilinear surfaces

Remote Operation and Maintenance Demonstration Facility at ORNL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harvey, H.W.; Floyd, S.D; Kuban, D.P.; Singletary, B.H.; Stradley, J.G.

1978-01-01

The Remote Operation and Maintenance Facility is a versatile facility arranged to mock-up various hot-cell configurations. Modular units of simulated shielding and viewing windows were built to provide flexibility in arrangement. The facility is fully equipped with hoists, manipulators, television, and the other basic equipment and services necessary to provide capability for both remote operation and maintenance of several selected functional process equipment groups. 6 figures

Introduction of a system of monitoring and automation of manipulator for hotcell in net

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fernandes, Guilherme Bezerra; Campos, Tarcisio Passos Ribeiro de [Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil). Programa de Pos-graduacao em Ciencias e Tecnicas Nucleares]. E-mails: guilhermemaster@gmail.com; campos@nuclear.ufmg.br

2007-07-01

Herein, the paper addresses the improvements on the automation procedures and security aspects of a hot cell developed by the NRI/PCTN for manipulating sealed radioactive sources. For such, it was necessary the construction of a vision system, a operational system for the manipulator and auxiliary systems for grasping. For the vision system, a set of five CCD cameras coupled with electromechanical device provide orientation into a solid angle made of 180 deg (x-axis) and 180 deg (z-axis), assembled with gears motors. Two cameras are placed into the hot cell and three outside. The system of operation of the manipulator have been reconstructed including: software, firmware and the electronics in order to improve the control of the eight freedom degrees through microcontroller circuits. The auxiliary systems involve two devices that allow the opening and closing the recipes in which the radioactive source is enclosed. Three distinct keyboards, one for each system, had also been developed for independent control without computer. All the systems when integrated allow the remote operation, that is, operated by remote control at large distance, promoting the security of the operators in the manipulation of the radioactive sources. (author)

Concept Design of the Payload Handling Manipulator System. [space shuttle orbiters

Science.gov (United States)

1975-01-01

The design, requirements, and interface definition of a remote manipulator system developed to handle orbiter payloads are presented. End effector design, control system concepts, and man-machine engineering are considered along with crew station requirements and closed circuit television system performance requirements.

Remote handling of JET in-torus components. A practical experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mills, S.; Brade, R.; Edwards, P.

2000-01-01

This paper summarises the experiences gained from the extensive handling of JET components inside the torus. The problems involved with handling components not designed to be remotely handled and the methods used to overcome them are described and discussed with specific examples from recent JET remote operations. The method employed for remotely producing structural TIG welds is explained. The problems of dextrous manipulation in an inverted attitude are discussed and the methods of amelioration are described

Transmission Index Research of Parallel Manipulators Based on Matrix Orthogonal Degree

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Zhu-Feng; Mo, Jiao; Tang, Xiao-Qiang; Wang, Li-Ping

2017-11-01

Performance index is the standard of performance evaluation, and is the foundation of both performance analysis and optimal design for the parallel manipulator. Seeking the suitable kinematic indices is always an important and challenging issue for the parallel manipulator. So far, there are extensive studies in this field, but few existing indices can meet all the requirements, such as simple, intuitive, and universal. To solve this problem, the matrix orthogonal degree is adopted, and generalized transmission indices that can evaluate motion/force transmissibility of fully parallel manipulators are proposed. Transmission performance analysis of typical branches, end effectors, and parallel manipulators is given to illustrate proposed indices and analysis methodology. Simulation and analysis results reveal that proposed transmission indices possess significant advantages, such as normalized finite (ranging from 0 to 1), dimensionally homogeneous, frame-free, intuitive and easy to calculate. Besides, proposed indices well indicate the good transmission region and relativity to the singularity with better resolution than the traditional local conditioning index, and provide a novel tool for kinematic analysis and optimal design of fully parallel manipulators.

Development of spent fuel remote handling technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoon, J. S.; Hong, H. D.; Kim, S. H.

2004-02-01

In this research, the remote handling technology is developed for the advanced spent fuel conditioning process which gives a possible solution to deal with the rapidly increasing spent fuels. In detail, a fuel rod slitting device is developed for the decladding of the spent fuel. A series of experiments has been performed to find out the optimal condition of the spent fuel voloxidation which converts the UO 2 pellet into U 3 O 8 powder. The design requirements of the ACP equipment for hot test is established by analysing the modular requirement, radiation hardening and thermal protection of the process equipment, etc. The prototype of the servo manipulator is developed. The manipulator has an excellent performance in terms of the payload to weight ratio that is 30 % higher than that of existing manipulators. To provide reliability and safety of the ACP, the 3 dimensional graphic simulator is developed. Using the simulator the remote handling operation is simulated and as a result, the optimal layout of ACP is obtained. The supervisory control system is designed to control and monitor the several different unit processes. Also the failure monitoring system is developed to detect the possible accidents of the reduction reactor

Enhancement of electromechanical manipulator performance by external sensory feedback

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Um, Taejun; Yoon, Jisup; Jung, Wootae; Lee, Jaesol.

1990-01-01

The electromechanical manipulator (EMM) is widely used in nuclear facilities because of its strength and mechanical reliability. Nevertheless, the lack of internal position or force feedback makes it unsuitable for many tasks that require a high level of dexterity. At the remote handling department of Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, a series of research and development (R and D) activities was conducted to provide a higher degree of intelligence to the EMM with the aid of external sensory devices. These R and D activities focus on remote viewing and remote measurement in radioactive environments. As a result, an improved EMM system was achieved that incorporates various sensory devices such as a motion tracking system and a laser vision system. This paper presents detailed technical descriptions of these sensors and test results

Robotic-Movement Payload Lifter and Manipulator

Science.gov (United States)

Doggett, William R. (Inventor); King, Bruce D. (Inventor); Collins, Timothy J. (Inventor); Dorsey, John T. (Inventor)

2011-01-01

A payload lifter/manipulator module includes a rotatable joint supporting spreader arms angularly spaced with respect to one another. A rigid arm is fixedly coupled to the joint and extends out therefrom to a tip. A tension arm has a first end and a second end with the first end being fixedly coupled to the tip of the rigid arm. The tension arm incorporates pivots along the length thereof. Each pivot can be engaged by or disengaged from the outboard end of a spreader arm based on a position of the spreader arm. A hoist, positioned remotely with respect to the module and coupled to the second end of the tension arm, controls the position of the spreader arms to thereby control the position of the rigid arm's tip. Payload lifter/manipulator assemblies can be constructed with one or more of the modules.

MANOLA - demonstration of the manipulator and transport vehicle system; MANOLA. Vorstellung des Manipulator- und Transportwagensystems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kern, P.; Gentes, S. [Karlsruher Institut fuer Technologie (KIT), Karlsruhe (Germany). Inst. fuer Technologie und Management im Baubetrieb, Technologie und Management des Rueckbaus kerntechnischer Anlagen

2011-07-01

The deconstruction of nuclear facilities has triggered the construction of remote handling systems. For the decontamination of surfaces the use of automatic robotics has significantly decreased the dose rate of the personnel and increased the efficiency. The authors describe the carrier system for the project MANOLA (manipulator controlled laser ablation technology) that can not only move in vertical and horizontal direction but also circumnavigate obstacles. This has reduced the cycle time and increased the efficiency. The weight of the transport vehicle is also reduced compared to the previous system AMANDA.

Remote maintenance for a new generation of hot cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feldman, M.J.; Grant, N.R.

1987-01-01

For several years the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program (CFRP) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been developing facility concepts, designing specialized equipment, and testing prototypical hardware for reprocessing spent fuel from fast breeder reactors. The major facility conceptual design, the Hot Experimental Facility, was based on total remote maintenance to increase plant availability and to reduce radiation exposure. This thrust included designing modular equipment to facilitate maintenance and the manipulation necessary to accomplish maintenance. Included in the design repetoire was the development effort in advanced servomanipulator systems, a remote sampling system, television viewing, and a transporter for manipulator positioning. Demonstration of these developed items is currently ongoing, and the technology is available for applications where production operations in highly radioactive environments are required

On-chip particle trapping and manipulation

Science.gov (United States)

Leake, Kaelyn Danielle

The ability to control and manipulate the world around us is human nature. Humans and our ancestors have used tools for millions of years. Only in recent years have we been able to control objects at such small levels. In order to understand the world around us it is frequently necessary to interact with the biological world. Optical trapping and manipulation offer a non-invasive way to move, sort and interact with particles and cells to see how they react to the world around them. Optical tweezers are ideal in their abilities but they require large, non-portable, and expensive setups limiting how and where we can use them. A cheap portable platform is required in order to have optical manipulation reach its full potential. On-chip technology offers a great solution to this challenge. We focused on the Liquid-Core Anti-Resonant Reflecting Optical Waveguide (liquid-core ARROW) for our work. The ARROW is an ideal platform, which has anti-resonant layers which allow light to be guided in liquids, allowing for particles to easily be manipulated. It is manufactured using standard silicon manufacturing techniques making it easy to produce. The planner design makes it easy to integrate with other technologies. Initially I worked to improve the ARROW chip by reducing the intersection losses and by reducing the fluorescence and background on the ARROW chip. The ARROW chip has already been used to trap and push particles along its channel but here I introduce several new methods of particle trapping and manipulation on the ARROW chip. Traditional two beam traps use two counter propagating beams. A trapping scheme that uses two orthogonal beams which counter to first instinct allow for trapping at their intersection is introduced. This scheme is thoroughly predicted and analyzed using realistic conditions. Simulations of this method were done using a program which looks at both the fluidics and optical sources to model complex situations. These simulations were also used to

Computer control of ET-RR-1 hot cell manipulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Effat, A.M.; Rahman, F.A.

1990-01-01

The hot cell designed for remote handling of radioactive materials are, in effect, integral systems of safety devices for attaining adequate radiological protection for the operating personnel. Their operation involve potential hazards that are sometimes of great magnitude. The effect of an incident or accident could thus be fatal. some of these incident are due to the collision of the manipulator slave side with the radioactive objectives. Therefore in order to minimize the probability of such type of incidents, the movement of the manipulators is suggested (in the present investigation) to be kept under computer control. A model have been developed to control the movement of the hot cell manipulators in the slave side for Egypt first research reactor ET-RR-1, specially in the hidden sectors. The model is based on the use of a microprocessor and some accessories fixed to the manipulators slave side in a special manner such that it prevents the manipulator from colliding with radioactive objects. This is achieved by a signal transmitted to a specially designed brake which controls the movement of the upper arm of the manipulator master side. The hardware design of the model as well as the software are presented in details

Implementation of a Digital Mock-up for Remote Hot cell Operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Hee Seong; Park, Byung Suk; Kim, Sung Hyun; Kim, Ki Ho; Kim, Ho Dong

2010-01-01

A remote manipulation environment that a human operator has to observe is the inner side of a hotcell through a lead grass window which has many obstacles due to many existing 'blind-spots' where are several cameras installed. The lack of visual information when operating in a cluttered environment makes manoeuvering a manipulator very difficult and when this situation is exacerbated by strict time limits for a task completion, then a manipulator and environmental collisions and resultant damage can occur. To cope with these problems, there has been efforts to develop a virtual simulator to validate control programs visually and to establish maintainability-engineering tools that automate generation assembly/disassembly procedures by using Computer Aided Design(CAD) visualization systems with human figure models to virtual reality systems where engineers can interact with the system using virtual input devices. This article introduces a system that can simulate a deployment analysis on a digital mock-up effectively and proposes a scheme to enable an operator to improve a remote manipulation by using a haptic device

Global manipulation of digital images can lead to variation in cytological diagnosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H Prasad

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Background: With the adoption of a completely electronic workflow by several journals and the advent of telepathology, digital imaging has become an integral part of every scientific research. However, manipulating digital images is very easy, and it can lead to misinterpretations. Aim: To analyse the impact of manipulating digital images on their diagnosis. Design: Digital images were obtained from Papanicolaou-stained smears of dysplastic and normal oral epithelium. They were manipulated using GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP to alter their brightness and contrast and color levels. A Power Point presentation composed of slides of these manipulated images along with the unaltered originals arranged randomly was created. The presentation was shown to five observers individually who rated the images as normal, mild, moderate or severe dysplasia. Weighted k statistics was used to measure and assess the levels of agreement between observers. Results: Levels of agreement between manipulated images and original images varied greatly among observers. Variation in diagnosis was in the form of overdiagnosis or under-diagnosis, usually by one grade. Conclusion: Global manipulations of digital images of cytological slides can significantly affect their interpretation. Such manipulations should therefore be kept to a minimum, and avoided wherever possible.

Remote handling in ZEPHYR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andelfinger, C.; Lackner, E.; Ulrich, M.; Weber, G.; Schilling, H.B.

1982-04-01

A conceptual design of the ZEPHYR building is described. The listed radiation data show that remote handling devices will be necessary in most areas of the building. For difficult repair and maintenance works it is intended to transfer complete units from the experimental hall to a hot cell which provides better working conditions. The necessary crane systems and other transport means are summarized as well as suitable commercially available manipulators and observation devices. The conept of automatic devices for cutting and welding and other operations inside the vacuum vessel and the belonging position control system is sketched. Guidelines for the design of passive components are set up in order to facilitate remote operation. (orig.)

Developing remote techniques for liquid metal reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fenemore, Peter

1987-01-01

Three devices have been designed in Britain to meet the need for special remote equipment and techniques required to inspect the reactor vessel and internals of liquid metal reactors. The ''Links Manipulator Under-Sodium Viewing System'' - a device to be used for the surveillance of reactor internals, which are submerged in sodium. An ''Automatic Guided Vehicle'' - a free roving vehicle to be used to survey the externals of the reactor vessel. The ''Snake Manipulator'' - an articulated arm used to gain access to restricted areas. (author)

Current status of research and development on remote maintenance for fusion components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeda, Nobukazu; Kakudate, Satoshi; Nakahira, Masataka; Shibanuma, Kiyoshi

2008-01-01

There is a growing attention to remote maintenance of nuclear fusion reactors. Remote maintenance is planned in ITER tokamak to keep the health of in-vessel components like blankets and divertors. In this article, current status of the development in the remote maintenance equipments and methods, especially for ITER tokamak are reviewed. The newly developed vehicle type and boom type maintenance devices, manipulator, and transfer cask are illustrated. (J.P.N.)

Rotational manipulation of single cells and organisms using acoustic waves.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmed, Daniel; Ozcelik, Adem; Bojanala, Nagagireesh; Nama, Nitesh; Upadhyay, Awani; Chen, Yuchao; Hanna-Rose, Wendy; Huang, Tony Jun

2016-03-23

The precise rotational manipulation of single cells or organisms is invaluable to many applications in biology, chemistry, physics and medicine. In this article, we describe an acoustic-based, on-chip manipulation method that can rotate single microparticles, cells and organisms. To achieve this, we trapped microbubbles within predefined sidewall microcavities inside a microchannel. In an acoustic field, trapped microbubbles were driven into oscillatory motion generating steady microvortices which were utilized to precisely rotate colloids, cells and entire organisms (that is, C. elegans). We have tested the capabilities of our method by analysing reproductive system pathologies and nervous system morphology in C. elegans. Using our device, we revealed the underlying abnormal cell fusion causing defective vulval morphology in mutant worms. Our acoustofluidic rotational manipulation (ARM) technique is an easy-to-use, compact, and biocompatible method, permitting rotation regardless of optical, magnetic or electrical properties of the sample under investigation.

Actuator Module of Robot Manipulator for Nuclear Power Plants Inspection, Maintenance and Decommission

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Sung Uk; Jung, Kyung Min; Seo, Young Chil; Choi, Byung Seon; Moon, Jei Kwon [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-10-15

For nuclear facility decommissioning, there are many different electrical manipulators to remotely dismantle a nuclear facility. Various manipulators will be necessary for inspection, maintenance and decommission. Only one manipulator cannot response to many required tasks. Therefore, several manipulators are necessary, depending on the payload capacity, their number of axes and their dexterity. Each manipulator was developed for a specific task. The actuators used at manipulator are varied and many companies sell actuators depending on power, torque and speed. However, the commercial product is not standardized. Therefore, the development of the manipulator is time consuming and expensive. The essential item of the manipulators is the actuator module. If actuator module is standardized, it is easier to develop manipulator. In this paper, we developed two electrical actuator modules to standardize the actuator module and easily develop a manipulator using the proposed actuator modules. The electrical actuator module has a motor, gear and rotary sensor, and is also waterproof. The electrically driven manipulator being used in the proposed actuator modules will be shown. Two modularized electrical actuator modules were developed for inspection, maintenance and decommission. Using the two developed actuator modules, the manipulator inspecting the welding area of reactor vessel is easily developed. Various modularized electrical actuator modules will be developed in terms of size and power.

Development of remote handling technology for nuclear fuel cycle facilities in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maekawa, Hiromichi; Sakai, Akira; Miura, Noriaki; Kozaka, Tetsuo; Hamada, Takashi

2015-01-01

and two bilateral servo-manipulators and ITV (Industrial Television) systems for monitoring are installed for Maintenance and also Operation in the cell. These cranes and manipulators are mounted on the bridge to ensure the wide range of operations in the cell and also designed to be remotely maintained themselves by each other. In case of K-facility (active tests stated in 2007) the operating experiences at TVF were reflected to make some improvements on its remote handling system in order to ensure the availability and reduce the cost. There adopted the unilateral servo-manipulator and the auxiliary hoist with remote operation support system, the rack module design for periodically replaced components, and the direct contact maintenance for the in cell cranes and manipulators in the shielded parking space. The glass melter in the vitrification process is designed to be replaced every 5 years, so the remote replacement and dismantling technology for the spent melters have been also developed and installed in TVF and K-facility for 40 years’ operation. This paper describes our development experiences on the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the remote handling systems in nuclear fuel cycle facilities in Japan. (author)

Immersive vision assisted remote teleoperation using head mounted displays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vakkapatla, Veerendrababu; Singh, Ashutosh Pratap; Rakesh, V.; Rajagopalan, C.; Murugan, S.; Sai Baba, M.

2016-01-01

Handling and inspection of irradiated material is inevitable in nuclear industry. Hot cells are shielded radiation containment chambers equipped with master slave manipulators that facilitates remote handling. The existing methods using viewing windows and cameras for viewing the contents of hot cell to manipulate the radioactive elements have problems such as optical distortion, limited distance teleoperation, limited field of view that lead to inefficient operation. This paper presents a method of achieving immersive teleoperation to operate the master slave manipulator in hot cells by exploiting the advanced tracking and display capabilities of head mounted display devices. (author)

Trends in remote handling device development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raimondi, T.

1991-01-01

A brief review is given of studies on layouts and methods for handling some major components requiring remote maintenance in future fusion reactors: Neutral sources and beam lines, the blanket, divertor plates, armour tiles and vacuum pumps. Comparison is made to problems encountered in JET, methods and equipment used and development work done there. Areas requiring development and research are outlined. These include topics which are the subject of papers presented here, such as dynamic studies and control of transporters, improvements to the man-machine interface and hot cell equipment. A variety of other topics where effort is needed are also mentioned: Environmental tolerance of components and equipment, TV viewing and compensation of viewing difficulties with aids such as computer graphics and image processing, safety assessment, computer aids for remote manipulation, remote cutting and welding techniques, routine in-vessel inspection methods and selection of connectors and flanges for remote handling. (orig.)

Remote maintenance for a new generation of hot cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feldman, M.J.; Grant, N.R.

1987-01-01

For several years the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been developing facility concepts, designing specialized equipment, and testing prototypical hardware for reprocessing spent fuel from fast breeder reactors. The major facility conceptual design, the Hot Experimental Facility, was based on total remote maintenance to increase plant availability and to reduce radiation exposure. This thrust included designing modular equipment to facilitate maintenance and the manipulation necessary to accomplish maintenance. Included in the design repetoire was the development effort in advanced servomanipulator systems, a remote sampling system, television viewing, and a transporter system, television viewing, and a transporter for manipulator positioning. Demonstration of these developed items is currently ongoing, and the technology is available for applications where production operations in highly radioactive environments are required

State of the art in design and control of master-slave manipulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Ki Ho; Kim, Seung Ho; Kim, Byung Soo; Kim, Chang Hoi; Jung, Seung Ho; Kwang, Suk Yeoung; Seo, Yong Chil; Lee, Young Kwang

1998-03-01

The use of remotely operated robots and other mechanical devices as replacements of human workers in hazardous environments is a growing field of research. In particular, master-slave manipulators have been extensively used in the nuclear industries governed by the ALARA principle for more than four decades. There, however, are still few successful implementations of complex and high degree-of-freedom systems. The master manipulator is an input device which interfaces with the human operator on one side and with the slave manipulator on the other. Bilateral force-reflecting control plays a key supporting role in successful dexterous manipulation of the master-slave manipulators. Great increase in performance of the master-slave manipulator system can be achieved through good design of mechanical hardware and proper implementation of the embedded control strategies. This report presents some of design issues relevant to designers of the master manipulator as man-machine interface device in the master-slave manipulator system. Significant design parameters for both the replica and universal master manipulators are evaluated. In addition, the report describes the various control schemes of the bilateral force-reflecting master-slave manipulators, discusses the analysis and synthesis of the control loop between the master and slave manipulators, and examines the necessary position and force information on both sides. (author). 80 refs., 2 tabs., 15 figs

Development Of Remote Hanford Connector Gasket Replacement Tooling For DWPF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krementz, D.; Coughlin, Jeffrey

2009-01-01

The Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) requested the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) to develop tooling and equipment to remotely replace gaskets in mechanical Hanford connectors to reduce personnel radiation exposure as compared to the current hands-on method. It is also expected that radiation levels will continually increase with future waste streams. The equipment is operated in the Remote Equipment Decontamination Cell (REDC), which is equipped with compressed air, two master-slave manipulators (MSM's) and an electro-mechanical manipulator (EMM) arm for operation of the remote tools. The REDC does not provide access to electrical power, so the equipment must be manually or pneumatically operated. The MSM's have a load limit at full extension of ten pounds, which limited the weight of the installation tool. In order to remotely replace Hanford connector gaskets several operations must be performed remotely, these include: removal of the spent gasket and retaining ring (retaining ring is also called snap ring), loading the new snap ring and gasket into the installation tool and installation of the new gasket into the Hanford connector. SRNL developed and tested tools that successfully perform all of the necessary tasks. Removal of snap rings from horizontal and vertical connectors is performed by separate air actuated retaining ring removal tools and is manipulated in the cell by the MSM. In order install a new gasket, the snap ring loader is used to load a new snap ring into a groove in the gasket installation tool. A new gasket is placed on the installation tool and retained by custom springs. An MSM lifts the installation tool and presses the mounted gasket against the connector block. Once the installation tool is in position, the gasket and snap ring are installed onto the connector by pneumatic actuation. All of the tools are located on a custom work table with a pneumatic valve station that directs compressed air to the desired tool and

Electromechanical three-axis development for remote handling in the Hot Experimental Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garin, J.; Bolfing, B.J.; Satterlee, P.E.; Babcock, S.M.

1981-01-01

A three-axis closed-loop position control system has been designed and installed on an overhead bridge, carriage, tube hoist for automotive positioning of manipulation at a remotely maintained work site. The system provides accurate (within 3 min) and repeatable three-axis positioning of the manipulator. The position control system has been interfaced to a supervisory minicomputer system that provides teach-playback capability of manipulator positioning and color graphic display of the three-axis system position

Portable remote sensing image processing system; Kahangata remote sensing gazo shori system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fujikawa, S; Uchida, K; Tanaka, S; Jingo, H [Dowa Engineering Co. Ltd., Tokyo (Japan); Hato, M [Earth Remote Sensing Data Analysis Center, Tokyo (Japan)

1997-10-22

Recently, geological analysis using remote sensing data has been put into practice due to data with high spectral resolution and high spatial resolution. There has been a remarkable increase in both software and hardware of personal computer. Software is independent of hardware due to Windows. It has become easy to develop softwares. Under such situation, a portable remote sensing image processing system coping with Window 95 has been developed. Using this system, basic image processing can be conducted, and present location can be displayed on the image in real time by linking with GPS. Accordingly, it is not required to bring printed images for the field works of image processing. This system can be used instead of topographic maps for overseas surveys. Microsoft Visual C++ ver. 2.0 is used for the software. 1 fig.

EASI graphics - Version II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allensworth, J.A.

1984-04-01

EASI (Estimate of Adversary Sequence Interruption) is an analytical technique for measuring the effectiveness of physical protection systems. EASI Graphics is a computer graphics extension of EASI which provides a capability for performing sensitivity and trade-off analyses of the parameters of a physical protection system. This document reports on the implementation of the Version II of EASI Graphics and illustrates its application with some examples. 5 references, 15 figures, 6 tables

History of remote operations and robotics in nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herndon, J.N.

1992-01-01

The field of remote technology is continuing to evolve to support man's efforts to perform tasks in hostile environments. Remote technology has roots which reach into the early history of man. Fireplace pokers, blacksmith's tongs, and periscopes are examples of the beginnings of remote technology. The technology which we recognize today has evolved over the last 45-plus years to support human operations in hostile environments such as nuclear fission and fusion, space, underwater, hazardous chemical, and hazardous manufacturing. The four major categories of approach to remote technology have been (1) protective clothing and equipment for direct human entry, (2) extended reach tools using distance for safety, (3) telemanipulators with barriers for safety, and (4) teleoperators incorporating mobility with distance and/or barriers for safety. The government and commercial nuclear industry has driven the development of the majority of the actual teleoperator hardware available today. This hardware has been developed due to the unsatisfactory performance of the protective-clothing approach in many hostile applications. Systems which have been developed include crane/impact wrench systems, unilateral power manipulators, mechanical master/slaves, and servomanipulators. Work for space applications has been primarily research oriented with few successful space applications, although the shuttle's remote manipulator system has been successful. In the last decade, underwater applications have moved forward significantly, with the offshore oil industry and military applications providing the primary impetus. This document consists of viewgraphs and subtitled figures

Pyroprocess Deployment Analysis and Remote Accessibility Experiment using Digital Mockup and Simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, K. H.; Park, H. S.; Kim, S. H.; Choi, C. H.; Lee, H. J.; Park, B. S.; Yoon, G. S.; Kim, K. H.; Kim, H. D.

2009-11-01

Nuclear fuel cycle facility that treats with spent fuel must be designed and manufactured a Pyroprcess facility and process with considering a speciality as every process have to be processed remotely. To prevent an unexpected accident under a circumstance that must operate with a remote manipulator after done the Pyroprocess facility, an procedure related Pyroprocess operation and maintenance need to establish it in the early design stage. To develop the simulator that is mixed by 3D modelling and simulation, a system architecture was designed. A full-scale digital mockup with a real pyroprocess facility was designed and manufactured. An inverse kinematics algorithm of remote manipulator was created in order to simulate an accident and repair that could happen in pyroprocess operation and maintenance under a virtual digital mockup environment. Deployment analysis of process devices through a workspace analysis was carried out and Accessibility analysis by using haptic device was examined

Potential application of nuclear remote-handling technology to underwater inspection and maintenance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eccleston, M.J.

1990-01-01

Examples are given of remote handling equipment developed within the nuclear industry and employing telemanipulative or telerobotic principles. In telerobotics the nuclear industry has been following a trend towards increased levels of autonomy, delegating operator control to a computer, for example, in resolved rate manipulator tip control, teach-and-repeat control and collision avoidance. Illustrations are presented of remote-handling techniques from the nuclear industry which may be carried over into undersea remote inspection, maintenance and repair systems. (author)

Remote handling in reprocessing plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Streiff, G.

1984-01-01

Remote control will be the rule for maintenance in hot cells of future spent fuel reprocessing plants because of the radioactivity level. New handling equipments will be developed and intervention principles defined. Existing materials, recommendations for use and new manipulators are found in the PMDS' documentation. It is also a help in the choice and use of intervention means and a guide for the user [fr

Development and verification test on remote plasma cutting of large metallic waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ozawa, Tamotsu; Yamada, Kunitaka; Abe, Tadashi

1979-01-01

Plasma cutting is the cutting method to melt and scatter cut objects by generating arc between an electrode in a nozzle and the cut objects and making working gas fed to surround it into high temperature, high speed plasma jet. In case of remote plasma cutting, a torch for the plasma cutting is operated remotely with a manipulator from the outside of a cell. At the time of planning the method of breaking up solid wastes, the type of cutting machines and the method of remote operation of the cutting machines and cut objects were examined. It was decided to adopt plasma cutting machines, because their cutting capability such as materials, thickness and cutting speed is excellent, and the construction and handling are simple. The form of the solid wastes to be cut is not uniform, accordingly the method of manipulator operation was adopted to respond to various forms flexibly. Cut objects are placed on a turntable to change the position successively. In case of remote plasma cutting, the controls of torch speed and gap must be made with a manipulator. The use of light-shielding glasses reduces largely the watchability of cut objects and becomes hindrance in the operation. As for the safety aspect, the suitable gas for cutting, which does not contain hydrogen, must be selected. The tests carried out for two years since November, 1977, are reported in this paper, and most of the problems have been solved. (Kako, I.)

Manipulating Liquids With Acoustic Radiation Pressure Phased Arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Oeftering, Richard C.

1999-01-01

High-intensity ultrasound waves can produce the effects of "Acoustic Radiation Pressure" (ARP) and "acoustic streaming." These effects can be used to propel liquid flows and to apply forces that can be used to move or manipulate floating objects or liquid surfaces. NASA's interest in ARP includes the remote-control agitation of liquids and the manipulation of bubbles and drops in liquid experiments and propellant systems. A high level of flexibility is attained by using a high-power acoustic phased array to generate, steer, and focus a beam of acoustic waves. This is called an Acoustic Radiation Pressure Phased Array, or ARPPA. In this approach, many acoustic transducer elements emit wavelets that converge into a single beam of sound waves. Electronically coordinating the timing, or "phase shift," of the acoustic waves makes it possible to form a beam with a predefined direction and focus. Therefore, a user can direct the ARP force at almost any desired point within a liquid volume. ARPPA lets experimenters manipulate objects anywhere in a test volume. This flexibility allow it to be used for multiple purposes, such as to agitate liquids, deploy and manipulate drops or bubbles, and even suppress sloshing in spacecraft propellant tanks.

Ex-vessel remote maintenance design for the Compact Ignition Tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spampinato, P.T.; Macdonald, D.

1987-01-01

The use of deuterium-tritium (D-T) fuel for operation of the Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT) imposes a requirement for remote handling technology for ex-vessel maintenance operations on auxiliary machine components. These operations consist of repairing and replacing components such as diagnostic, radio-frequency (rf) heating, and fueling systems using remotely operated maintenance equipment in the test cell. In addition, ex-vessel maintenance design also includes developing hot cell facilities for equipment decontamination, repair, and solid radioactive waste handling. The test cell maintenance philosophy is markedly influenced by the neutron/gamma shield surrounding the machine that allows personal access into the test cell one day after shutdown. Hence, maintenance operations can be performed hands-on in the test cell with the shield intact and must be remotely performed when the shield is disassembled for machine access. The constricted access to the auxiliary components of the machine affect the design requirements for the maintenance equipment and impose major spatial constraints. Several major areas of the maintenance system design are being addressed in fiscal year 1987. These include conceptual design of the manipulator system, preliminary remote equipment research and development, and definition of the hot cell, decontamination, and equipment repair facility requirements. The manipulator work includes investigating transporters and viewing/lighting subsystems. 2 figs

Persuasive strategies in Mandela’s No Easy Walk to Freedom

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Abdulhameed Faris

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Remarkable politicians are those who are skilled at communicating their ideas with a good sense of persuasion. The present paper is an endeavour to investigate the persuasive strategies of the African leader, Nelson Mandela, with reference to his address No Easy Walk to Freedom (1953. Johnstone’s (2008 framework for persuasive strategies was used for the analysis. The findings demonstrate the use of three persuasive strategies – quasilogical, presentational and analogical. Quasilogical argumentation, which is based on rationality, was made through syllogism, enthymeme and causation. To create involvement, Mandela manipulated presentational persuasion via rhetorical deixes, metaphors, repetition and alliteration. Attempting to elevate the spiritual values of his addressees in regard to the cause of liberation and freedom, Mandela employed analogical persuasion by making a reference to the Bible. Of these three strategies, quasilogical and presentational strategies were the most manipulated by Mandela in the given speech to move his audience. Logic and rationality was used to motivate his audience to receive his claims about white supremacy, andemotions mainly grief and rage were evoked to energize the course of anti-white supremacy non-violent orchestrated struggle.

Remote Controlling and Monitoring of Microscopic Slides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mustafa, G.; Qadri, M.T.; Daraz, U.

2016-01-01

Remotely controlled microscopic slide was designed using especial Graphical User Interface (GUI) which interfaces the user at remote location with the real microscope using site and the user can easily view and control the slide present on the microscope's stage. Precise motors have been used to allow the movement in all the three dimensions required by a pathologist. The pathologist can easily access these slides from any remote location and so the physical presence of the pathologist is now made easy. This invention would increase the health care efficiency by reducing the time and cost of diagnosis, making it very easy to get the expert's opinion and supporting the pathologist to relocate himself for his work. The microscope is controlled with computer with an attractive Graphical User Interface (GUI), through which a pathologist can easily monitor, control and record the image of the slide. The pathologist can now do his work regardless of his location, time, cost and physically presence of lab equipment. The technology will help the specialist in viewing the patients slide from any location in the world. He would be able to monitor and control the stage. This will also help the pathological laboratories in getting opinion from senior pathologist who are present at any far location in the world. This system also reduces the life risks of the patients. (author)

Internet remote control interface for a multipurpose robotic arm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew W. Dunnigan

2008-11-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an Internet remote control interface for a MITSUBISHI PA10-6CE manipulator established for the purpose of the ROBOT museum exhibition during spring and summer 2004. The robotic manipulator is a part of the Intelligent Robotic Systems Laboratory at Heriot ? Watt University, which has been established to work on dynamic and kinematic aspects of manipulator control in the presence of environmental disturbances. The laboratory has been enriched by a simple vision system consisting of three web-cameras to broadcast the live images of the robots over the Internet. The Interface comprises of the TCP/IP server providing command parsing and execution using the open controller architecture of the manipulator and a client Java applet web-site providing a simple robot control interface.

Research issues in implementing remote presence in teleoperator control

Science.gov (United States)

Corker, K.; Mishkin, A. H.; Lyman, J.

1981-01-01

The concept of remote presence in telemanipulation is presented. A conceptual design of a prototype teleoperator system incorporating remote presence is described. The design is presented in functional terms, sensor, display, and control subsystem. An intermediate environment, in which the human operator is made to feel present, is explicated. The intermediate environment differs from the task environment due to the quantity and type of information presented to an operator and due to scaling factors protecting the operator from the hazards of the task environment. Potential benefits of remote presence systems, both for manipulation and for the study of human cognition and preception are discussed.

Remotely replaceable fuel and feed nozzles for the NWCF calciner vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fletcher, R.D.; Carter, J.A.; May, K.W.

1978-01-01

The development and testing of remotely replaceable fuel and feed nozzles for calcination of liquid radioactive wastes in the calciner vessel of the New Waste Calcining Facility (NWCF) being built at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory are described. A complete fuel nozzle assembly was fabricated and tested at the Remote Maintenance Development Facility to evolve design refinements, identify required support equipment, and develop handling techniques. The design also provided for remote replacement of the nozzle support carriage and adjacent feed and fuel pipe loops using two pairs of master-slave manipulators

Robot vision system R and D for ITER blanket remote-handling system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maruyama, Takahito; Aburadani, Atsushi; Takeda, Nobukazu; Kakudate, Satoshi; Nakahira, Masataka; Tesini, Alessandro

2014-01-01

For regular maintenance of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), a system called the ITER blanket remote-handling system is necessary to remotely handle the blanket modules because of the high levels of gamma radiation. Modules will be handled by robotic power manipulators and they must have a non-contact-sensing system for installing and grasping to avoid contact with other modules. A robot vision system that uses cameras was adopted for this non-contact-sensing system. Experiments for grasping modules were carried out in a dark room to simulate the environment inside the vacuum vessel and the robot vision system's measurement errors were studied. As a result, the accuracy of the manipulator's movements was within 2.01 mm and 0.31°, which satisfies the system requirements. Therefore, it was concluded that this robot vision system is suitable for the non-contact-sensing system of the ITER blanket remote-handling system

Robot vision system R and D for ITER blanket remote-handling system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maruyama, Takahito, E-mail: maruyama.takahito@jaea.go.jp [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Fusion Research and Development Directorate, Naka, Ibaraki-ken 311-0193 (Japan); Aburadani, Atsushi; Takeda, Nobukazu; Kakudate, Satoshi; Nakahira, Masataka [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Fusion Research and Development Directorate, Naka, Ibaraki-ken 311-0193 (Japan); Tesini, Alessandro [ITER Organization, Route de Vinon sur Verdon, 13115 St Paul Lez Durance (France)

2014-10-15

For regular maintenance of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), a system called the ITER blanket remote-handling system is necessary to remotely handle the blanket modules because of the high levels of gamma radiation. Modules will be handled by robotic power manipulators and they must have a non-contact-sensing system for installing and grasping to avoid contact with other modules. A robot vision system that uses cameras was adopted for this non-contact-sensing system. Experiments for grasping modules were carried out in a dark room to simulate the environment inside the vacuum vessel and the robot vision system's measurement errors were studied. As a result, the accuracy of the manipulator's movements was within 2.01 mm and 0.31°, which satisfies the system requirements. Therefore, it was concluded that this robot vision system is suitable for the non-contact-sensing system of the ITER blanket remote-handling system.

Remote helium leak test of the DUPIC fuel rod

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, W. K; Kim, S. S.; Lim, S. P.; Lee, J. W.; Yang, M. S.

1998-01-01

DUPIC(Direct Use of spent PWR fuel In CANDU reactor) is one of dry reprocessing fuel cycles to reuse irradiated PWR fuel in CANDU power plant. DUPIC fuel is so radioactive that DUPIC fuel is remotely fabricated at hot cell such as IMEF hot cell in which radiation is shielded and remote operation is possible. In this study, Helium leakage has been tested for the simulated DUPIC fuel rod manufactured by Nd:YAG laser end-cap welding at simulated hot cell. The remote inspection technique has been developed to evaluate the soundness of DUPIC fuel fabricated through new processes. Vacuum chamber has been developed to be remotely operated by manipulators at hot cell. As the result of remote test, Helium leakage of DUPIC fuel rod is around background level, CANDU specification has been satisfied. In the result of the study, remote test has been successfully performed at the simulated hot cell, and the soundness of DUPIC fuel rod welded by Nd:YAG laser has been confirmed

Controlled soil warming powered by alternative energy for remote field sites.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnstone, Jill F; Henkelman, Jonathan; Allen, Kirsten; Helgason, Warren; Bedard-Haughn, Angela

2013-01-01

Experiments using controlled manipulation of climate variables in the field are critical for developing and testing mechanistic models of ecosystem responses to climate change. Despite rapid changes in climate observed in many high latitude and high altitude environments, controlled manipulations in these remote regions have largely been limited to passive experimental methods with variable effects on environmental factors. In this study, we tested a method of controlled soil warming suitable for remote field locations that can be powered using alternative energy sources. The design was tested in high latitude, alpine tundra of southern Yukon Territory, Canada, in 2010 and 2011. Electrical warming probes were inserted vertically in the near-surface soil and powered with photovoltaics attached to a monitoring and control system. The warming manipulation achieved a stable target warming of 1.3 to 2 °C in 1 m(2) plots while minimizing disturbance to soil and vegetation. Active control of power output in the warming plots allowed the treatment to closely match spatial and temporal variations in soil temperature while optimizing system performance during periods of low power supply. Active soil heating with vertical electric probes powered by alternative energy is a viable option for remote sites and presents a low-disturbance option for soil warming experiments. This active heating design provides a valuable tool for examining the impacts of soil warming on ecosystem processes.

Controlled soil warming powered by alternative energy for remote field sites.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jill F Johnstone

Full Text Available Experiments using controlled manipulation of climate variables in the field are critical for developing and testing mechanistic models of ecosystem responses to climate change. Despite rapid changes in climate observed in many high latitude and high altitude environments, controlled manipulations in these remote regions have largely been limited to passive experimental methods with variable effects on environmental factors. In this study, we tested a method of controlled soil warming suitable for remote field locations that can be powered using alternative energy sources. The design was tested in high latitude, alpine tundra of southern Yukon Territory, Canada, in 2010 and 2011. Electrical warming probes were inserted vertically in the near-surface soil and powered with photovoltaics attached to a monitoring and control system. The warming manipulation achieved a stable target warming of 1.3 to 2 °C in 1 m(2 plots while minimizing disturbance to soil and vegetation. Active control of power output in the warming plots allowed the treatment to closely match spatial and temporal variations in soil temperature while optimizing system performance during periods of low power supply. Active soil heating with vertical electric probes powered by alternative energy is a viable option for remote sites and presents a low-disturbance option for soil warming experiments. This active heating design provides a valuable tool for examining the impacts of soil warming on ecosystem processes.

Remote maintenance lessons learned on prototypical reprocessing equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kring, C.T.; Schrock, S.L.

1990-01-01

A major objective of the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory is to develop and demonstrate the technology required to reprocess spent nuclear fuel. The Fuel Recycle Division, over the past 16 years, has undertaken this objective by designing and testing prototypical hardware representing essentially every major equipment item currently included in most fuel reprocessing plant conceptual designs. These designs are based on total remote maintenance to increase plant availability and reduce radiation exposure to plant operators. The designs include modular equipment to facilitate maintainability and the remote manipulation necessary to accomplish maintenance tasks. Prototypic equipment has been installed and tested in a cold mock-up of a reprocessing hot cell, called the remote operations and maintenance demonstration facility. The applied maintenance concept utilizes the dexterity and mobility of bridge-mounted, force-reflecting servomanipulators. Prototypic processing equipment includes a remote disassembly system, a remote shear system, a rotary dissolver, a remote automated sampler system, removable equipment racks to support chemical process equipment items, and the advanced servomanipulators. Each of these systems and a brief description of functions are discussed

Remote handling devices for use behind shielding walls. Master-slave manipulators with three pivots, dimensions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-08-01

The standardized general dimensions as recommended in this standard will facilitate the planning and construction of shielding rooms in which master-slave manipulators as specified in this standard are to be used, as well as the interchangeability of these instruments. It will also help to shorten the time of delivery in the initial supply of maser-slave manipulators for these rooms and in the supply of replacement parts. (orig.) [de

Boiler inspection manipulator for Torness Power Station

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carrey, R.T.A.; Yule, I.Y.; Sibson, S.; Playle, M.J.

1996-01-01

The Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors at Torness and Heysham 2 are provided with dedicated access for remote inspection equipment. These in-service inspection (ISI) accesses comprise 12 penetrations above the core for inspection of the above core area and boilers, 12 below core penetrations for inspection of the lower boiler area and access through any of the 8 gas circulator penetrations for inspection of the sub-diagrid area. This paper describes a manipulator which will access the reactor from above the core via any of the 8 peripheral penetrations. (UK)

Review of inspection of Torness reactor internals using remote techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dynan, J.

1993-01-01

Inspection of reactor internals is increasingly being achieved by deployment of cameras into areas of sometimes high radiation fields using manipulators. The manipulators have been developed over a number of years and from a variety of sources and those provided at Torness can maybe be seen to be the state of the art development of such machines for AGRS. Torness and Heysham 2 reactors were specifically designed for inspection using remote techniques and special facilities have been provided for this purpose. This paper is written by an operator and not a manipulator specialist and is intended to show what the operator needs versus what the designer gave him. (author)

Remote application of an oscillatory system for density measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fortsch, E.M.; Wade, M.A.

1974-01-01

An Anton-Paar densimeter was modified for remote use and installed in the Remote Analytical Facility of the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant. This instrument determines density by measuring the deviation in resonant frequency of a hollow-glass mechanical oscillator when filled with sample material. The volume of the oscillator is constant and any change in its frequency is due to the sample. The change in frequency is a measure of the mass of the sample. Since there is no need to measure either volume or mass, the remote manipulations are simplified. This unit replaced existing falling-drop equipment with a reduction in cost and improvement of precision. The remote unit is used routinely 24 h a day with a precision of better than +- 5 x 10 -4 g/ml

Remote Manipulation for DandD Exhibiting Teleautonomy and Telecollaboration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ewing, Thomas F.; Colgate, J. Edward; Park, Young S.; Peshkin, Michael A.

2004-01-01

The purpose of the work is to enhance remote operations of robotic systems for DandD tasks by extending teleoperation with semi-autonomous functions. The work leverages the $1.2M dual-arm work platform (DAWP) developed with broad participation for the CP5 DandD, as well as 2,000 hr DAWP DandD operational experience. We propose to develop a reactive, agent-based control architecture well suited to unstructured and unpredictable environments, and robot control technology, which implements a virtual fixture that can be used to guide the application of tools with force-feedback control. Developed methodologies will be implemented using a structured light sensor and robot hand controller on the dual-arm system

Remote Manipulation for DandD Exhibiting Teleautonomy and Telecollaboration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yule, Thomas J.; Colgate, J. Edward; Park, Young S.; Ewing, Thomas F.

2002-01-01

The purpose of the work is to enhance remote operations of robotic systems for DandD tasks by extending teleoperation with semi-autonomous functions. The work leverages the $1.2M dual-arm work platform (DAWP) developed with broad participation for the CP5 D and D, as well as 2,000 hr DAWP D and D operational experience. We propose to develop a reactive, agent-based control architecture well suited to unstructured and unpredictable environments, and robot control technology, which implements a virtual fixture that can be used to guide the application of tools with force-feedback control. Developed methodologies will be implemented using a structured light sensor and robot hand controller on the dual-arm system

Stereo advantage for a peg-in-hole task using a force-feedback manipulator

Science.gov (United States)

Spain, Edward H.

1990-01-01

An improved assessment methodology has been implemented at NOSC and tested using an instrumented peg-in-hole (PiH) taskboard. Several aspects of the methodology are discussed in light of their implications for future studies of manipulator performance. Using a simple (but high-fidelity) force-feedback manipulator, a group of 9 trained operators showed a consistent advantage for stereoscopic TV viewing over monoscopic TV viewing when performing the PiH task. To introduce a controlled element of spatial uncertainty into the testing procedure, taskboard orientation relative to the manipulator and remote video camera head was changed in a randomized order on a trial-by-trial basis. The stereoscopic advantage demonstrated by this study can reasonably be expected to be even more pronounced as the quality of the stereo TV interface is improved and force-feedback provided through the manipulator system is diminished and/or distorted.

Remote Control of Tissue Interactions via Engineered Photo-switchable Cell Surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Wei; Pulsipher, Abigail; Dutta, Debjit; Lamb, Brian M.; Yousaf, Muhammad N.

2014-09-01

We report a general cell surface molecular engineering strategy via liposome fusion delivery to create a dual photo-active and bio-orthogonal cell surface for remote controlled spatial and temporal manipulation of microtissue assembly and disassembly. Cell surface tailoring of chemoselective functional groups was achieved by a liposome fusion delivery method and quantified by flow cytometry and characterized by a new cell surface lipid pull down mass spectrometry strategy. Dynamic co-culture spheroid tissue assembly in solution and co-culture tissue multilayer assembly on materials was demonstrated by an intercellular photo-oxime ligation that could be remotely cleaved and disassembled on demand. Spatial and temporal control of microtissue structures containing multiple cell types was demonstrated by the generation of patterned multilayers for controlling stem cell differentiation. Remote control of cell interactions via cell surface engineering that allows for real-time manipulation of tissue dynamics may provide tools with the scope to answer fundamental questions of cell communication and initiate new biotechnologies ranging from imaging probes to drug delivery vehicles to regenerative medicine, inexpensive bioreactor technology and tissue engineering therapies.

A review of magnetic resonance imaging compatible manipulators in surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Elhawary, H; Zivanovic, A; Davies, B; Lampérth, M

2006-04-01

Developments in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), coupled with parallel progress in the field of computer-assisted surgery, mean that an ideal environment has been created for the development of MRI-compatible robotic systems and manipulators, capable of enhancing many types of surgical procedure. However, MRI does impose severe restrictions on mechatronic devices to be used in or around the scanners. In this article a review of the developments in the field of MRI-compatible surgical manipulators over the last decade is presented. The manipulators developed make use of different methods of actuation, but they can be reduced to four main groups: actuation transmitted through hydraulics, pneumatic actuators, ultrasonic motors based on the piezoceramic principle and remote manual actuation. Progress has been made concerning material selection, position sensing, and different actuation techniques, and design strategies have been implemented to overcome the multiple restrictions imposed by the MRI environment. Most systems lack the clinical validation needed to continue on to commercial products.

Advanced robotic remote handling system for reactor dismantlement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shinohara, Yoshikuni; Usui, Hozumi; Fujii, Yoshio

1991-01-01

An advanced robotic remote handling system equipped with a multi-functional amphibious manipulator has been developed and used to dismantle a portion of radioactive reactor internals of an experimental boiling water reactor in the program of reactor decommissioning technology development carried out by the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. (author)

Guiding device for a manipulator mast for internal inspection of a reactor pressure vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seifert, W.; Schlueter, H.

1977-01-01

A remote-controlled supporting device centering a manipulator mast is described which is mounted and operated above a reactor pressure vessel under water in such a way that rotations and vertical movements necessary for the internal inspection of the pressure vessel remain possible. (RW) [de

Grid Generation Techniques Utilizing the Volume Grid Manipulator

Science.gov (United States)

Alter, Stephen J.

1998-01-01

This paper presents grid generation techniques available in the Volume Grid Manipulation (VGM) code. The VGM code is designed to manipulate existing line, surface and volume grids to improve the quality of the data. It embodies an easy to read rich language of commands that enables such alterations as topology changes, grid adaption and smoothing. Additionally, the VGM code can be used to construct simplified straight lines, splines, and conic sections which are common curves used in the generation and manipulation of points, lines, surfaces and volumes (i.e., grid data). These simple geometric curves are essential in the construction of domain discretizations for computational fluid dynamic simulations. By comparison to previously established methods of generating these curves interactively, the VGM code provides control of slope continuity and grid point-to-point stretchings as well as quick changes in the controlling parameters. The VGM code offers the capability to couple the generation of these geometries with an extensive manipulation methodology in a scripting language. The scripting language allows parametric studies of a vehicle geometry to be efficiently performed to evaluate favorable trends in the design process. As examples of the powerful capabilities of the VGM code, a wake flow field domain will be appended to an existing X33 Venturestar volume grid; negative volumes resulting from grid expansions to enable flow field capture on a simple geometry, will be corrected; and geometrical changes to a vehicle component of the X33 Venturestar will be shown.

Remotely controlled repair at Douglas Point

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1981-01-01

The Douglas Point nuclear generating station, completed in 1966, was Canada's first venture in commercial nuclear power. The discovery, 11 years later, of two perforations in auxiliary piping in a high radiation area led Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd and Ontario Hydro to develop new approaches to remotely controlled repair that will have much wider applications. Eddy current and ultrasonic testing were used to determine the pattern and extent of wear in a pipe encircled by a U-bolt, without first removing the U-bolt. Progress was monitored using remote TV cameras. Welding tools were designed and fabricated for the repairs, and a manipulator was also designed to transport the tool into its place of work. (author)

Remote-automation of nuclear power plant equipment inspection and maintenance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sasaki, Masayoshi; Kawamura, Hironobu; Nakano, Yoshiyuki; Izumi, Shigeru.

1984-01-01

The remotely operated automation of the checkup and maintenance of nuclear power generation facilities has largely contributed to the rise of capacity ratio of plants due to the shortening of regular inspection period and to the reduction of radiation exposure dose during working, the labor saving in working and so on. In this paper, the new technologies adopted in an automatic fuel exchanger, a remotely operated automatic CRD exchanger, a new type channel handling machine, pressure-withstanding main steam line plugs and so on for No.2 plant in the Fukushima No.2 Nuclear Power Station, Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc., are reported. Besides, the state of development of new remotely operated automatic machines for nuclear power use, such as CRD disassembling and cleaning device, volume reduction equipment for spent fuel channel boxes and control rods, multi-functional robots for use under high radiation and so on is described. Also the trend of development of latest robot technology which will be put in practical use in near future is outlined, such as a running manipulator for checkup and inspection, a variable form crawler vehicle and a five-leg movable manipulator. (Kako, I.)

Automatic and manual operation modes of the TFTR maintenance manipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boehme, G.; Gumb, L.; Lotz, E.; Mueller, G.; Selig, M.

1987-01-01

The remote in-vessel operations scheduled to maintain the TFTR at Princeton, NJ, USA, comprise inspection, calibration, cleaning and protective tile replacement. The environmental conditions inside the torus vessel are ultra high vacuum, moderate γ-radiation and 150 0 C temperature of the vessel structure. The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and KfK are jointly developing a maintenance manipulator (MM) which can perform these tasks. (orig./HP)

Sound beam manipulation based on temperature gradients

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Qian, Feng [Key Laboratory of Modern Acoustics, Institute of Acoustics and School of Physics, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China); School of Physics & Electronic Engineering, Changshu Institute of Technology, Changshu 215500 (China); Quan, Li; Liu, Xiaozhou, E-mail: xzliu@nju.edu.cn; Gong, Xiufen [Key Laboratory of Modern Acoustics, Institute of Acoustics and School of Physics, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China)

2015-10-28

Previous research with temperature gradients has shown the feasibility of controlling airborne sound propagation. Here, we present a temperature gradients based airborne sound manipulation schemes: a cylindrical acoustic omnidirectional absorber (AOA). The proposed AOA has high absorption performance which can almost completely absorb the incident wave. Geometric acoustics is used to obtain the refractive index distributions with different radii, which is then utilized to deduce the desired temperature gradients. Since resonant units are not applied in the scheme, its working bandwidth is expected to be broadband. The scheme is temperature-tuned and easy to realize, which is of potential interest to fields such as noise control or acoustic cloaking.

Remote controlled ultrasonic pre-service and in-service inspections of reactor pressure vessels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueller, G.

1990-01-01

The first mechanised in-service inspection of the reactor pressure vessel on unit one of Eskom's Koeberg nuclear power station has been carried out. Since 1968 a whole range of manipulators to carry out remote controlled ultrasonic inspections of nuclear power station equipment has been developed. The inspection of a reactor pressure vessel using a central mast manipulator is described. 3 figs., 1 ill

Remotely controllable liquid marbles

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Lianbin

2012-07-26

Liquid droplets encapsulated by self-organized hydrophobic particles at the liquid/air interface - liquid marbles - are prepared by encapsulating water droplets with novel core/shell-structured responsive magnetic particles, consisting of a responsive block copolymer-grafted mesoporous silica shell and magnetite core (see figure; P2VP-b-PDMS: poly(2-vinylpyridine-b- dimethylsiloxane)). Desirable properties of the liquid marbles include that they rupture upon ultraviolet illumination and can be remotely manipulated by an external magnetic field. 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Man-machine cooperation in remote handling for fusion plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leinemann, K.

1984-01-01

Man-machine cooperation in remote handling for fusion plants comprises cooperation for design of equipment and planning of procedures using a CAD system, and cooperation during operation of the equipment with computer aided telemanipulation systems (CAT). This concept is presently being implemented for support of slave positioning, camera tracking, and camera alignment in the KfK manipulator test facility. The pilot implementation will be used to test various man-machine interface layouts, and to establish a set of basic buildings blocks for future implementations of advanced remote handling control systems. (author)

Remote sensing of coral reefs and their physical environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mumby, Peter J.; Skirving, William; Strong, Alan E.; Hardy, John T.; LeDrew, Ellsworth F.; Hochberg, Eric J.; Stumpf, Rick P.; David, Laura T.

2004-01-01

There has been a vast improvement in access to remotely sensed data in just a few recent years. This revolution of information is the result of heavy investment in new technology by governments and industry, rapid developments in computing power and storage, and easy dissemination of data over the internet. Today, remotely sensed data are available to virtually anyone with a desktop computer. Here, we review the status of one of the most popular areas of marine remote sensing research: coral reefs. Previous reviews have focused on the ability of remote sensing to map the structure and habitat composition of coral reefs, but have neglected to consider the physical environment in which reefs occur. We provide a holistic review of what can, might, and cannot be mapped using remote sensing at this time. We cover aspects of reef structure and health but also discuss the diversity of physical environmental data such as temperature, winds, solar radiation and water quality. There have been numerous recent advances in the remote sensing of reefs and we hope that this paper enhances awareness of the diverse data sources available, and helps practitioners identify realistic objectives for remote sensing in coral reef areas

Remote sensing of coral reefs and their physical environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mumby, Peter J.; Skirving, William; Strong, Alan E.; Hardy, John T.; LeDrew, Ellsworth F.; Hochberg, Eric J.; Stumpf, Rick P.; David, Laura T

2004-02-01

There has been a vast improvement in access to remotely sensed data in just a few recent years. This revolution of information is the result of heavy investment in new technology by governments and industry, rapid developments in computing power and storage, and easy dissemination of data over the internet. Today, remotely sensed data are available to virtually anyone with a desktop computer. Here, we review the status of one of the most popular areas of marine remote sensing research: coral reefs. Previous reviews have focused on the ability of remote sensing to map the structure and habitat composition of coral reefs, but have neglected to consider the physical environment in which reefs occur. We provide a holistic review of what can, might, and cannot be mapped using remote sensing at this time. We cover aspects of reef structure and health but also discuss the diversity of physical environmental data such as temperature, winds, solar radiation and water quality. There have been numerous recent advances in the remote sensing of reefs and we hope that this paper enhances awareness of the diverse data sources available, and helps practitioners identify realistic objectives for remote sensing in coral reef areas.

Track-mounted remote handling system for the Tokamak Fusion Engineering Test

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kelly, V.P.; Berger, J.D.; Daubert, R.L.; Yount, J.A.

1982-01-01

Concepts for remote handling machines (IVM) designed to transverse the interior of toroidal vessels with guidance and support from track systems have been developed for the proposed Tokamak Fusion Engineering Test (TFET). TFET has been proposed as an upgrade for the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR), currently nearing completion. The track-mounted IVMs were conceived to perform in-vessel remote maintenance for TFET, including removal and replacement of pump limiter blades and protective tiles as well as other maintenance-related tasks such as vessel wall inspection leak testing and interior cleanup. The conceptual IVMs consist of three manipulator arms mounted on a common frame member: a single power manipulator arm with high load carrying capacity and two lower-capacity servomanipulator arms. Descriptions of the IVM concepts, in-vessel track systems, and ex-vessel handling systems are presented

Remote sampling and analysis of highly radioactive samples in shielded boxes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirpikov, D.A.; Miroshnichenko, I.V.; Pykhteev, O.Yu.

2010-01-01

The sampling procedure used for highly radioactive coolant water is associated with high risk of personnel irradiation and uncontrolled radioactive contamination. Remote sample manipulation with provision for proper radiation shielding is intended for safety enhancement of the sampling procedure. The sampling lines are located in an isolated compartment, a shielded box. Various equipment which enables remote or automatic sample manipulation is used for this purpose. The main issues of development of the shielded box equipment intended for a wider ranger of remote chemical analyses and manipulation techniques for highly radioactive water samples are considered in the paper. There were three principal directions of work: Transfer of chemical analysis performed in the laboratory inside the shielded box; Prevalence of computer-aided and remote techniques of highly radioactive sample manipulation inside the shielded box; and, Increase in control over sampling and determination of thermal-hydraulic parameters of the coolant water in the sampling lines. The developed equipment and solutions enable remote chemical analysis in the restricted volume of the shielded box by using ion-chromatographic, amperometrical, fluorimetric, flow injection, phototurbidimetric, conductometric and potentiometric methods. Extent of control performed in the shielded box is determined taking into account the requirements of the regulatory documents as well as feasibility and cost of the technical adaptation of various methods to the shielded box conditions. The work resulted in highly precise determination of more than 15 indexes of the coolant water quality performed in on-line mode in the shielded box. It averages to 80% of the total extent of control performed at the prototype reactor plants. The novel solutions for highly radioactive sample handling are implemented in the shielded box (for example, packaging, sample transportation to the laboratory, volume measurement). The shielded box is

Remote Systems Experience at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory--A Summary of Lessons Learned

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noakes, Mark W.; Burgess, Thomas W.; Rowe, John C.

2011-01-01

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has a long history in the development of remote systems to support the nuclear environment. ORNL, working in conjunction with Central Research Laboratories, created what is believed to be the first microcomputer-based implementation of dual-arm master-slave remote manipulation. As part of the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program, ORNL developed the dual-arm advanced servomanipulator focusing on remote maintainability for systems exposed to high radiation fields. ORNL also participated in almost all of the various technical areas of the U.S. Department of Energy s Robotics Technology Development Program, while leading the Decontamination and Decommissioning and Tank Waste Retrieval categories. Over the course of this involvement, ORNL has developed a substantial base of working knowledge as to what works when and under what circumstances for many types of remote systems tasks as well as operator interface modes, control bandwidth, and sensing requirements to name a few. By using a select list of manipulator systems that is not meant to be exhaustive, this paper will discuss history and outcome of development, field-testing, deployment, and operations from a lessons learned perspective. The final outcome is a summary paper outlining ORNL experiences and guidelines for transition of developmental remote systems to real-world hazardous environments.

Remote maintenance design for Fusion Experimental Reactor (FER)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tachikawa, K.; Iida, H.; Nishio, S.; Tone, T.; Aota, T.; Iwamoto, T.; Niikura, S.; Nishizawa, H.

1984-01-01

Design of Fusion Experimental Reactor, FER, has been conducted by Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) since 1981. Two typical reactors can be classified in general from the viewpoints of remote maintenance among four design concepts of FER. In the case of the type 1 FER, the torus module consists of shield structure and blanket, and the connective joints between toruses provided at the outer region of the reactor. As for the type 2 FER, the shield structure is joined with the vacuum cryostat, and only the blanket module is allowed to move, but connection between toruses are located in the inner region of the reactor. Comparing type 1 with type 2 FER, this paper describes on the remote maintenance of FER including reactor configurations, work procedures, remote systems/equipments, repairing facility and future R and D problems. Reviewing design studies and investigation for the existing robotics technologies, R and D for FER remote maintenance technology should be performed under the reasonable long-term program. The main items of remote technology required to start urgently are multi-purpose manipulator system with performance of dextrousity, tele-viewing system which reduces operator fatigue and remote tests for commercially available components

The evolution of teleoperated manipulators at ORNL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kress, R.L.; Jansen, J.F.; Noakes, M.W.; Herndon, J.N.

1996-01-01

ORNL has made significant contributions to teleoperator and telerobotics technology for two decades and continues with an aggressive program today. Examples of past projects are: (1) the M2 servomanipulator, which was the first digitally controlled teleoperator; (2) the Advanced Servomanipulator (ASM), which was the first remotely maintainable teleoperator; (3) the CESARm/Kraft dissimilar teleoperated system; and (4) the Laboratory Telerobotic Manipulator (LTM), a 7-Degree-of-Freedom (7-DOF) telerobot built as a prototype for work in space. More recently, ORNL has become heavily involved with Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (ERWM) robotics programs funded by the Department of Energy (DOE). The ERWM program requires high payloads and high dexterity. As a result, a hydraulically actuated, dual-arm system comprised of two 6-DOF arms mounted on a 5-DOF base has been constructed and is being used today for various research tasks and for decontamination and dismantlement activities. All of these teleoperated manipulator systems build upon the experiences gained throughout the almost two decades of development. Each system incorporates not only the latest technology in computers, sensors, and electronics, but each new . system also adds at least one new feature to the technologies already developed and demonstrated in the previous system(s). As a result of this process, a serious study of these manipulator systems is a study in the evolution of teleoperated manipulator the systems in general. This provides insight not only into the research and development paths chosen in the past, but also into the appropriate directions for future teleoperator and telerobotics research. This paper examines each of the teleoperated/telerobotic systems developed at ORNL, summarizes their features and capabilities, examines the state of the most current telerobotic system (the Dual Arm Work Module), PM provides direction for a Next Generation Telerobotic Manipulator system

Remote handling demonstration of ITER blanket module replacement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kakudate, S.; Nakahira, M.; Oka, K.; Taguchi, K.; Obara, K.; Tada, E.; Shibanuma, K.; Tesini, A.; Haange, R.; Maisonnier, D.

2001-01-01

In ITER, the in-vessel components such as blanket are to be maintained or replaced remotely since they will be activated by 14 MeV neutrons, and a complete exchange of shielding blanket with breeding blanket is foreseen after the Basic Performance Phase. The blanket is segmented into about seven hundred modules to facilitate remote maintainability and allow individual module replacement. For this, the remote handing equipment for blanket maintenance is required to handle a module with a dead weight of about 4 tonne within a positioning accuracy of a few mm under intense gamma radiation. According to the ITER R and D program, a rail-mounted vehicle manipulator system was developed and the basic feasibility of this system was verified through prototype testing. Following this, development of full-scale remote handling equipment has been conducted as one of the ITER Seven R and D Projects aiming at a remote handling demonstration of the ITER blanket. As a result, the Blanket Test Platform (BTP) composed of the full-scale remote handling equipment has been completed and the first integrated performance test in March 1998 has shown that the fabricate remote handling equipment satisfies the main requirements of ITER blanket maintenance. (author)

Completely contained and remotely operated digital density meter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goergen, C.R.

1979-10-01

A completely contained and remotely operated density determination system having unique features was designed, fabricated, and installed at the Savannah River Plant. The system, based on a Mettler calculating digital density meter, provides more precise and accurate results than the falling drop technique for measuring densities. The system is fast, simple, easy to operate, and has demonstrated both reliability and durability

An easy mold

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Nam Hun; Choe, Jong Sun

1988-04-01

This book deals with an easy mold, which introduces what is a mold kinds and classification of mold. It gives descriptions of easy theories such as basic knowledge on shearing work, clearance, power for punching and shear angle, basic knowledge for bending such as transform by bending, the minimal bending radius, spring back, the length of material, flexural strength for bending, fundamental knowledge for drawing work with transform of drawing and limitation of drawing.

Final Report - Spent Nuclear Fuel Retrieval System Manipulator System Cold Validation Testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

D.R. Jackson; G.R. Kiebel

1999-01-01

Manipulator system cold validation testing (CVT) was performed in support of the Fuel Retrieval System (FRS) Sub-Project, a subtask of the Spent Nuclear Fuel Project at the Hanford Site in Richland, Washington. The FRS will be used to retrieve and repackage K-Basin Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) currently stored in old K-Plant storage basins. The FRS is required to retrieve full fuel canisters from the basin; clean the fuel elements inside the canister to remove excessive uranium corrosion products (or sludge); remove the contents from the canisters; and sort the resulting debris, scrap, and fuel for repackaging. The fuel elements and scrap will be collected in fuel storage and scrap baskets in preparation for loading into a multi canister overpack (MCO), while the debris is loaded into a debris bin and disposed of as solid waste. The FRS is composed of three major subsystems. The Manipulator Subsystem provides remote handling of fuel, scrap, and debris; the In-Pool Equipment subsystem performs cleaning of fuel and provides a work surface for handling materials; and the Remote Viewing Subsystem provides for remote viewing of the work area by operators. There are two complete and identical FRS systems, one to be installed in the K-West basin and one to be installed in the K-East basin. Another partial system will be installed in a cold test facility to provide for operator training

Final Report - Spent Nuclear Fuel Retrieval System Manipulator System Cold Validation Testing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

D.R. Jackson; G.R. Kiebel

1999-08-24

Manipulator system cold validation testing (CVT) was performed in support of the Fuel Retrieval System (FRS) Sub-Project, a subtask of the Spent Nuclear Fuel Project at the Hanford Site in Richland, Washington. The FRS will be used to retrieve and repackage K-Basin Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) currently stored in old K-Plant storage basins. The FRS is required to retrieve full fuel canisters from the basin; clean the fuel elements inside the canister to remove excessive uranium corrosion products (or sludge); remove the contents from the canisters; and sort the resulting debris, scrap, and fuel for repackaging. The fuel elements and scrap will be collected in fuel storage and scrap baskets in preparation for loading into a multi canister overpack (MCO), while the debris is loaded into a debris bin and disposed of as solid waste. The FRS is composed of three major subsystems. The Manipulator Subsystem provides remote handling of fuel, scrap, and debris; the In-Pool Equipment subsystem performs cleaning of fuel and provides a work surface for handling materials; and the Remote Viewing Subsystem provides for remote viewing of the work area by operators. There are two complete and identical FRS systems, one to be installed in the K-West basin and one to be installed in the K-East basin. Another partial system will be installed in a cold test facility to provide for operator training.

Remote maintenance system technology development for nuclear fuel cycle plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kashihara, Hidechiyo

1984-01-01

The necessity of establishing the technology of remote maintenance, the kinds of maintenance techniques and the change, the image of a facility adopting remote maintenance canyon process, and the outline of the R and D plan to put remote maintenance canyon process in practical use are described. As the objects of development, there are twin arm type servo manipulator system, rack system, remote tube connectors, solution sampling system, inspection system for in-cell equipment, and large plugs for wall penetration. The outline of those are also reported. The development of new remote maintenance technology has been forwarded in the Tokai Works aiming at the application to a glass solidification pilot plant and a FBR fuel recycling test facility. The lowering of the rate of utilization of cells due to poor accessibility and the increase of radiation exposure of workers must be overcome to realize nuclear fuel cycle technology. The maintenance technology is classified into crane canyon method, direct maintenance cell method, remote maintenance cell method and remote maintenance canyon method, and those are described briefly. The development plan of remote maintenance technology is outlined. (Kako, I.)

Remote Working Level Monitor. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1977-01-01

The Remote Working Level Monitor (RWLM) is an instrument used to remotely monitor the RN-daughter concentrations and the Working Level (WL). It is an ac powered, microprocessor based instrument which multiplexes two independent detector units to a single central processor unit (CPU). The CPU controls the actuation of the detector units and processes and outputs the data received from these remote detector units. The remote detector units are fully automated and require no manual operation once they are set up. They detect and separate the alpha emitters of RaA and RaC' as well as detecting the beta emitters of RaB and RaC. The resultant pulses from these detected radioisotopes are transmitted to the CPU for processing. The programmed microprocessor performs the mathematical manipulations necessary to output accurate Rn-daughter concentrations and the WL. A special subroutine within the program enables the RWLM to run and output a calibration procedure on command. The data resulting from this request can then be processed in a separate program on most computers capable of BASIC programming. The calibration program results in the derivation of coefficients and beta efficiencies which provides calibrated coefficients and beta efficiencies

A Centrifugal Contactor Design to Facilitate Remote Replacement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meikrantz, David H.; Law, Jack D.; Garn, Troy G.; Macaluso, Lawrence L.

2011-01-01

Advanced designs of nuclear fuel recycling and radioactive waste treatment plants are expected to include more ambitious goals for solvent extraction based separations including; higher separations efficiency, high-level waste minimization, and a greater focus on continuous processes to minimize cost and footprint. Therefore, Annular Centrifugal Contactors (ACCs) are destined to play a more important role for such future processing schemes. This work continues the development of remote designs for ACCs that can process the large throughputs needed for future nuclear fuel recycling and radioactive waste treatment plants. A three stage, 12.5 cm diameter rotor module has been constructed and is being evaluated for use in highly radioactive environments. This prototype assembly employs three standard CINC V-05 clean-in-place (CIP) units modified for remote service and replacement via new methods of connection for solution inlets, outlets, drain and CIP. Hydraulic testing and functional checks were successfully conducted and then the prototype was evaluated for remote handling and maintenance. Removal and replacement of the center position V-05R contactor in the three stage assembly was demonstrated using an overhead rail mounted PaR manipulator. Initial evaluation indicates a viable new design for interconnecting and cleaning individual stages while retaining the benefits of commercially reliable ACC equipment. Replacement of a single stage via remote manipulators and tools is estimated to take about 30 minutes, perhaps fast enough to support a contactor change without loss of process equilibrium. The design presented in this work is scalable to commercial ACC models from V-05 to V-20 with total throughput rates ranging from 20 to 650 liters per minute.

[Surgical manipulators in ear surgery: a future vision?].

Science.gov (United States)

Hofer, M; Dietz, A; Strauss, G

2011-04-01

Middle ear surgery bears a high risk for injury of difficult to differentiate risk structures. Thus, a precise preparation in this area must be the surgical task. However, there are human (tremor) and systematic limitations (OR setup, narrow access). Assistance systems in terms of manipulators are so far not part of the clinical routine. Although, they could compensate for the above mentioned limitations. MANIPULATORS: This work reviews existing surgical manipulator systems. The expected value is an elevated patient safety through improving surgical accuracy and the reduction of ergonomic deficits. CLINICAL APPLICATION AND DEVELOPMENT: In clinical application there are simply modified industrial robots, highly complex master slave systems and small miniature master slave systems which are directly located at the patient. A disadvantage of most systems is the limited number of applicable instruments. Often, only especially designed instruments can be used. The goal in development should be to create a compact, short distance operated master slave system. The usability of standard (already available) instruments with an easy integration into the surgical and sterilisation procedure would lower the threshold for acceptance of such systems.The surgeon will remain the key player. He can only work efficiently in an ergonomic environment and will always have the responsibility for the intervention. From the authors perspective, highly automated systems should not be the research goal. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Construction of an easy-to-use CRISPR-Cas9 system by patching a newly designed EXIT circuit.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Qiang; Lou, Chunbo; Liu, Shuang-Jiang

2017-01-01

Plasmid-borne genetic editing tools, including the widely used CRISPR-Cas9 system, have greatly facilitated bacterial programming to obtain novel functionalities. However, the lack of effective post-editing plasmid elimination methods impedes follow-up genetic manipulation or application. Conventional strategies including exposure to physical and chemical treatments, or exploiting temperature-sensitive replication origins have several drawbacks (e.g., they are limited for efficiency and are time-consuming). Therefore, the demand is apparent for easy and rapid elimination of the tool plasmids from their bacterial hosts after genetic manipulation. To bridge this gap, we designed a novel EXIT circuit with the homing endonuclease, which can be exploited for rapid and efficient elimination of various plasmids with diverse replication origins. As a proof of concept, we validated the EXIT circuit in Escherichia coli by harnessing homing endonuclease I- Sce I and its cleavage site. When integrated into multiple plasmids with different origins, the EXIT circuit allowed them to be eliminated from the host cells, simultaneously. By combining the widely used plasmid-borne CRISPR-Cas9 system and the EXIT circuit, we constructed an easy-to-use CRISPR-Cas9 system that eliminated the Cas9- and the single-guide RNA (sgRNA)-encoding plasmids in one-step. Within 3 days, we successfully constructed an atrazine-degrading E. coli strain, thus further demonstrating the advantage of this new CRISPR-Cas9 system for bacterial genome editing. Our novel EXIT circuit, which exploits the homing endonuclease I- Sce I, enables plasmid(s) with different replication origins to be eliminated from their host cells rapidly and efficiently. We also developed an easy-to-use CRISPR-Cas9 system with the EXIT circuit, and this new system can be widely applied to bacterial genome editing.

Progress report on the development of remotely operated tools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, A.T.

1984-08-01

This report contains a number of individual trials reports based upon work conducted in aid of a programme of feasibility studies into the size reduction of radioactive contaminated solid waste. The work was directed towards the identification of acceptable remotely operated tools and the means of deploying them for dismantling operations in a radioactive environment. Reliability, ease of maintenance, change of tool bits and common power sources have been major considerations in the trials assessments. Alternative end effector drive systems have also been considered when defining suitable manipulative capabilities and attention has also been directed towards a remotely controlled tool changing capability. (author)

Development of remote handling system based on 3-D shape recognition technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tomizuka, Chiaki; Takeuchi, Yutaka

2006-01-01

In a nuclear facility, the maintenance and repair activities must be done remotely in a radioactive environment. Fuji Electric Systems Co., Ltd. has developed a remote handling system based on 3-D recognition technique. The system recognizes the pose and position of the target to manipulate, and visualizes the scene with the target in 3-D, enabling an operator to handle it easily. This paper introduces the concept and the key features of this system. (author)

Design and operation of a remotely operated plutonium waste size reduction and material handling process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stewart, J.A. III; Charlesworth, D.L.

1986-01-01

Noncombustible 238 Pu and 239 Pu waste is generated as a result of normal operation and decommissioning activity at the Savannah River Plant, and is being retrievably stored there. As part of the long-term plant to process the stored waste and current waste for permanent disposal, a remote size reduction and material handling process is being cold-tested at Savannah River Laboratory. The process consists of a large, low-speed shredder and material handling system, a remote worktable, a bagless transfer system, and a robotically controlled manipulator. Initial testing of the shredder and material handling system and a cycle test of the bagless transfer system has been completed. Fabrication and acceptance testing of the Telerobat, a robotically controlled manipulator has been completed. Testing is scheduled to begin in 3/86. Design features maximizing the ability to remotely maintain the equipment were incorporated. Complete cold-testing of the equipment is scheduled to be completed in 1987

Teleoperation and computer control of a backhoe/manipulator system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amazeen, C.A.; Bishop, S.S.

1987-01-01

Teleoperation of the U.S. Army's Small Emplacement Excavator (SEE) is now in the prototype stage of development. Initial work is directed towards remotely controlling the SEE backhoe attachment as well as a Belvoir Research, Development, and Engineering Center (BRDEC)-developed heavy-lift manipulator (HLM). The HLM is an alternate end effector for the backhoe. Primitive computer control of the backhoe, with a bucket as an end effector, has been achieved. This paper presents the current and planned system configurations and discusses system applications

Remote operations and viewing using the monitor system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grisham, D.L.; Lambert, J.E.; Baldwin, T.S.; Ekberg, E.L.; Hernandez, T.R.; Raybun, J.L.

1984-01-01

Over the past two years, major rebuilding operations were conducted at the Clinton P. Anderson Meson Physics Facility (LAMPF). These operations involved replacement of complex experimental apparatus in high-radiation areas using servomanipulators and video viewing. All remote tasks were completed on or ahead of allotted schedules. This success is attributed to continuing improvement of manipulators, viewing systems, and operating techniques

Remotely replaceable fuel and feed nozzles for the new waste calcining facility calciner vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fletcher, R.D.; Carter, J.A.; May, K.W.

1978-01-01

The development and testing of remotely replaceable fuel and feed nozzles for calcination of liquid radioactive wastes in the calciner vessel of the New Waste Calcining Facility being built at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory is described. A complete fuel nozzle assembly was fabricated and tested at the Remote Maintenance Development Facility to evolve design refinements, identify required support equipment, and develop handling techniques. The design also provided for remote replacement of the nozzle support carriage and adjacent feed and fuel pipe loops using two pairs of master-slave manipulators

Characterizing volumetric discontinuities present in NPP heat exchangers with EASY: an eddy current data analysis system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alencar, Donizete A.; Silva Junior, Silverio F., E-mail: daa@cdtn.b, E-mail: silvasf@cdtn.b [Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (CDTN/CNEN-MG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil)

2011-07-01

Eddy current is a very important NDT inspection method widely used to perform integrity evaluation of tubes installed in heat exchangers. For nuclear power plants, a classical example is the remote inspection of steam generators and condensers, as well as other ordinary auxiliary equipment. Data evaluation can be performed by means of precise phase and amplitude measurements of complex impedance signals, represented as Lissajous figures plotted on the screen of the inspection systems. This paper presents the software EASY, a computer assisted analysis system developed at CDTN to help the characterization of volumetric discontinuities present in heat exchangers tubes. Data to be analyzed are obtained from commercial eddy current equipment data file, such as ECT MAD8D. Main advantage of that system is its portability and easy use, since it can be executed in ordinary PC, under Microsoft Windows operating system. (author)

Characterizing volumetric discontinuities present in NPP heat exchangers with EASY: an eddy current data analysis system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alencar, Donizete A.; Silva Junior, Silverio F.

2011-01-01

Eddy current is a very important NDT inspection method widely used to perform integrity evaluation of tubes installed in heat exchangers. For nuclear power plants, a classical example is the remote inspection of steam generators and condensers, as well as other ordinary auxiliary equipment. Data evaluation can be performed by means of precise phase and amplitude measurements of complex impedance signals, represented as Lissajous figures plotted on the screen of the inspection systems. This paper presents the software EASY, a computer assisted analysis system developed at CDTN to help the characterization of volumetric discontinuities present in heat exchangers tubes. Data to be analyzed are obtained from commercial eddy current equipment data file, such as ECT MAD8D. Main advantage of that system is its portability and easy use, since it can be executed in ordinary PC, under Microsoft Windows operating system. (author)

Crane system with remote actuation mechanism for use in argon compartment in ACPF hot cell

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jong Kwang, E-mail: leejk@kaeri.re.kr; Park, Byung-Suk; Yu, Seung-Nam; Kim, Kiho; Cho, Il-je

2016-10-15

Highlights: • Novel crane system with a remote actuation mechanism for feasible maintenance under limited space conditions is proposed. • Linear drive systems are implemented for accurate positioning. • Modular design concepts for easy maintenance are introduced. • The motion controller and the off-the-shelf camera controller are integrated to provide more efficient operation. - Abstract: The Advanced spent fuel Conditioning Process Facility (ACPF) at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has recently been successfully renovated. One of the highlights of this renovation project was the installation of a small argon compartment within the atmospheric hot cell of the facility. Even though a crane system was considered necessary for the remote handling of the processing equipment inside the argon compartment, no suitable commercial cranes were available. This was because a limited amount of space had been reserved for the installation of the crane. Moreover, a master-slave manipulator (MSM), the only available means of maintenance of the crane, was unable to reach it in the limited workspace. To address the difficulties in the design of this crane, in this study, a remote actuation mechanism is devised where the mechanical and electrical parts of the crane system are separated, positioned far away from each other, and connected through power transmission shafts. This approach has two main advantages. First, the electrical parts can be placed inside the workspace of the MSM, hence allowing for remote maintenance. Second, the space occupied by the electrical parts and their cables, which are separate from the crane in the proposed design, can be considered and exploited in designing the mechanical parts of the crane. This enables the construction of a short, special crane in order to maximize the workspace. Furthermore, the mechanical parts for the MSM located outside the workspace are designed to possess a high safety margin to ensure durability

CameraCast: flexible access to remote video sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Jiantao; Ganev, Ivan; Schwan, Karsten; Widener, Patrick

2007-01-01

New applications like remote surveillance and online environmental or traffic monitoring are making it increasingly important to provide flexible and protected access to remote video sensor devices. Current systems use application-level codes like web-based solutions to provide such access. This requires adherence to user-level APIs provided by such services, access to remote video information through given application-specific service and server topologies, and that the data being captured and distributed is manipulated by third party service codes. CameraCast is a simple, easily used system-level solution to remote video access. It provides a logical device API so that an application can identically operate on local vs. remote video sensor devices, using its own service and server topologies. In addition, the application can take advantage of API enhancements to protect remote video information, using a capability-based model for differential data protection that offers fine grain control over the information made available to specific codes or machines, thereby limiting their ability to violate privacy or security constraints. Experimental evaluations of CameraCast show that the performance of accessing remote video information approximates that of accesses to local devices, given sufficient networking resources. High performance is also attained when protection restrictions are enforced, due to an efficient kernel-level realization of differential data protection.

Wired World-Wide Web Interactive Remote Event Display

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

De Groot, Nicolo

2003-05-07

WIRED (World-Wide Web Interactive Remote Event Display) is a framework, written in the Java{trademark} language, for building High Energy Physics event displays. An event display based on the WIRED framework enables users of a HEP collaboration to visualize and analyze events remotely using ordinary WWW browsers, on any type of machine. In addition, event displays using WIRED may provide the general public with access to the research of high energy physics. The recent introduction of the object-oriented Java{trademark} language enables the transfer of machine independent code across the Internet, to be safely executed by a Java enhanced WWW browser. We have employed this technology to create a remote event display in WWW. The combined Java-WWW technology hence assures a world wide availability of such an event display, an always up-to-date program and a platform independent implementation, which is easy to use and to install.

Commander manipulator scoops prestigious mulit-million pound BNFL contract

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bailey, Andrew.

1997-01-01

Twenty-one Commander robotic arms are on order from INBIS (formerly Ricardo Hitec) and BNFL Engineering Limited (''BEL'', the engineering arm of parent company BNFL). The multi-million pound contract was won amid fierce competition from other well-known names in robotic engineering. The specially designed Commander manipulators will be engaged in remotely handling Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) in a suite of four BNFL ILW plants, which are currently either under construction or planned at Sellafield. The first Commander will delivered to BNFL's Sellafield Silo Emptying Project in January 1998. (Author)

English made easy

CERN Document Server

Crichton, Jonathan

2013-01-01

This is a fun and user–friendly way to learn English English Made Easy is a breakthrough in English language learning—imaginatively exploiting how pictures and text can work together to create understanding and help learners learn more productively. It gives learners easy access to the vocabulary, grammar and functions of English as it is actually used in a comprehensive range of social situations. Self–guided students and classroom learners alike will be delighted by the way they are helped to progress easily from one unit to the next, using a combination of pictures and text to discover for themselves how English works. The pictorial method used in this book is based on a thorough understanding of language structure and how language is successfully learned.English Made Easy, Volume 1 consists of a total of 20 units arranged in groups of five. The first four units presents language and provide learners the opportunities to practice as they learn. The first page of each unit has a list of all the word...

English made easy

CERN Document Server

Crichton, Jonathan

2013-01-01

This is a fun and user–friendly way to learn EnglishEnglish Made Easy is a breakthrough in English language learning—imaginatively exploiting how pictures and text can work together to create understanding and help learners learn more productively. It gives learners easy access to the vocabulary, grammar and functions of English as it is actually used in a comprehensive range of social situations. Self–guided students and classroom learners alike will be delighted by the way they are helped to progress easily from one unit to the next, using a combination of pictures and text to discover for themselves how English works. The pictorial method used in this book is based on a thorough understanding of language structure and how language is successfully learned.English Made Easy, Volume 2 consists of a total of 20 units arranged in groups of five. The first four units presents language and provide learners the opportunities to practice as they learn. The first page of each unit has a list of all the words...

Application of telerobotic control to remote processing of nuclear material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Merrill, R.D.; Grasz, E.L.; Herget, C.J.; Gavel, D.T.; Addis, R.B.; DeMinico, G.A.

1991-01-01

In processing radioactive material there are certain steps which have customarily required operators working at glove box enclosures. This can subject the operators to low level radiation dosages and the risk of accidental contamination, as well as generate significant radioactive waste to accommodate the human interaction. An automated system is being developed to replace the operator at the glove box and thus remove the human from these risks, and minimize waste. Although most of the processing can be automated with very little human operator interaction, there are some tasks where intelligent intervention is necessary to adapt to unexpected circumstances and events. These activities will require that the operator be able to interact with the process using a remote manipulator in a manner as natural as if the operator were actually in the work cell. This robot-based remote manipulation system, or telerobot, must provide the operator with an effective means of controlling the robot arm, gripper and tools. This paper describes the effort in progress in Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to achieve this capability. 8 refs

Joining teleoperation with robotics for advanced manipulation in hostile environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, H.L.; Hamel, W.R.

1984-01-01

Manipulators have been used for many years to perform remote handling tasks in hazardous environments. The development history of teleoperators is reviewed, and applications around the world are summarized. The effect of computer supervisory control is discussed, and similarities between robots and teleoperator research activities are delineated. With improved control strategies and system designs, combination of positive attributes of robots with teleoperators will lead to advanced machines capable of autonomy in unstructured environments. This concept of a telerobot is introduced as a goal for future activities

Remote RemoteRemoteRemote sensing potential for sensing ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Remote RemoteRemoteRemote sensing potential for sensing potential for sensing potential for sensing potential for sensing potential for sensing potential for sensing potential for sensing potential for sensing potential for sensing potential for sensing p. A Ngie, F Ahmed, K Abutaleb ...

Behavior-Based Assists for Telerobotic Manipulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noakes, Mark W.; Hamel, Dr. William R.

2008-01-01

Teleoperated manipulation has been a critical tool in hazardous operations where the presence of humans has been precluded since the early days of nuclear material handling. Performance levels and limitations were understood and accepted. However, in the current era of decontamination and decommissioning (D and D) of facilities owned by the U.S. Department of Energy, there has been criticism that traditional remote systems are too expensive, too slow, and too difficult to use by cost-driven demolition companies. Previous research in telerobotics has attempted to alleviate some of these issues; however, it has been difficult to get capabilities generated in the research lab into the field. One major difficulty is the severely unstructured environments found in real D and D type environments. Behavior-based robotics (BBR) is based on concepts specifically designed to permit autonomous robots to function in unstructured environments. BBR schemes use sensor data to interact with the world directly rather than to generate models that are manipulated. Because the robot is immersed in its environment and since sensors are mounted on the robot, sensing and motion are inherently calibrated with respect to the robot. This paper presents a behavior-based approach and architecture for executing telerobotic D and D type tooling tasks

Using an Online Remote Laboratory for Electrical Experiments in Upper Secondary Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lars Håkansson

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The use of remote laboratories in courses at university level has been reported in literature numerous times since the mid 90’s. In this article focus is on activities carried out by teachers and students, at the Upper Secondary School Level, using the remote laboratory VISIR (Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality. The Upper Secondary School, Katedralskolan in Lund, Sweden, cooperate with Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden, in a project that concerns the introduction of remote laboratory environment suitable for Upper Secondary School science courses. A remote laboratory in electronics has been introduced and is used as a complement to the traditional workbench in the hands-on laboratory. Significant results from the project are; 1 the great interest shown by the students for the remote experiments, 2 the students appreciation for the fact that it was not simulations but actual real experiments, 3 the remote laboratory is easy to implement for use by both teachers and students and 4 it can be used simultaneously by many students.

Researching on the process of remote sensing video imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, He-rao; Zheng, Xin-qi; Sun, Yi-bo; Jia, Zong-ren; Wang, He-zhan

Unmanned air vehicle remotely-sensed imagery on the low-altitude has the advantages of higher revolution, easy-shooting, real-time accessing, etc. It's been widely used in mapping , target identification, and other fields in recent years. However, because of conditional limitation, the video images are unstable, the targets move fast, and the shooting background is complex, etc., thus it is difficult to process the video images in this situation. In other fields, especially in the field of computer vision, the researches on video images are more extensive., which is very helpful for processing the remotely-sensed imagery on the low-altitude. Based on this, this paper analyzes and summarizes amounts of video image processing achievement in different fields, including research purposes, data sources, and the pros and cons of technology. Meantime, this paper explores the technology methods more suitable for low-altitude video image processing of remote sensing.

Remote real time x-ray examination of fuel elements in a hot cell environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yapuncich, F.L.

1993-01-01

This report discusses the Remote Real Time X-ray System which will allow for detailed examination of fuel elements. This task will be accomplished in a highly radioactive hot cell environment. Two remote handling systems win be utilized at the examination station. One handling system will transfer the fuel element to and from the shielded x-ray system. A second handling system will allow for vertical and rotational inspection of the fuel elements. The process win include removing a single nuclear fuel element from a element fabrication magazine(EFM), positioning the fuel element within the shielding envelope of the x-ray system and transferring the fuel element from the station manipulator to the x-ray system manipulator, performing the x-ray inspection, and then transferring the fuel element to either the element storage magazine(ESM) or a reject bin

Development of a virtual reality simulator for the ITER blanket remote handling system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeda, Nobukazu; Kakudate, Satoshi; Nakahira, Masataka; Shibanuma, Kiyoshi; Tesini, Alessandro

2008-01-01

The authors developed a simulator for the remote maintenance system of the ITER blanket using a general 3D robotic simulation software, ENVISION. The simulator is connected to the control system of the manipulator, which was developed as part of the blanket maintenance system during the Engineering Design Activity (EDA), and can reconstruct the positions of the manipulator and blanket module using position data transmitted from motors through a LAN. In addition, it can provide virtual visual information (e.g., about the interface structures behind the blanket module) by making the module transparent on the screen. It can also be used for confirming a maintenance sequence before the actual operation. The simulator will be modified further, with addition of other necessary functions, and will finally serve as a prototype of the actual simulator for the blanket remote handling system, which will be procured as part of an in-kind contribution

Neuropeptide Y2 receptors in anteroventral BNST control remote fear memory depending on extinction training.

Science.gov (United States)

Verma, Dilip; Tasan, Ramon; Sperk, Guenther; Pape, Hans-Christian

2018-03-01

The anterior bed nucleus of stria terminalis (BNST) is involved in reinstatement of extinguished fear, and neuropeptide Y2 receptors influence local synaptic signaling. Therefore, we hypothesized that Y2 receptors in anteroventral BNST (BNSTav) interfere with remote fear memory and that previous fear extinction is an important variable. C57BL/6NCrl mice were fear-conditioned, and a Y2 receptor-specific agonist (NPY 3-36 ) or antagonist (JNJ-5207787) was applied in BNSTav before fear retrieval at the following day. Remote fear memory was tested on day 16 in two groups of mice, which had (experiment 1) or had not (experiment 2) undergone extinction training after conditioning. In the group with extinction training, tests of remote fear memory revealed partial retrieval of extinction, which was prevented after blockade of Y2 receptors in BNSTav. No such effect was observed in the group with no extinction training, but stimulation of Y2 receptors in BNSTav mimicked the influence of extinction during tests of remote fear memory. Pharmacological manipulation of Y2 receptors in BNSTav before fear acquisition (experiment 3) had no effect on fear memory retrieval, extinction or remote fear memory. Furthermore, partial retrieval of extinction during tests of remote fear memory was associated with changes in number of c-Fos expressing neurons in BNSTav, which was prevented or mimicked upon Y2 blockade or stimulation in BNSTav. These results indicate that Y2 receptor manipulation in BNSTav interferes with fear memory and extinction retrieval at remote stages, likely through controlling neuronal activity in BNSTav during extinction training. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Smart Cards and remote entrusting

Science.gov (United States)

Aussel, Jean-Daniel; D'Annoville, Jerome; Castillo, Laurent; Durand, Stephane; Fabre, Thierry; Lu, Karen; Ali, Asad

Smart cards are widely used to provide security in end-to-end communication involving servers and a variety of terminals, including mobile handsets or payment terminals. Sometime, end-to-end server to smart card security is not applicable, and smart cards must communicate directly with an application executing on a terminal, like a personal computer, without communicating with a server. In this case, the smart card must somehow trust the terminal application before performing some secure operation it was designed for. This paper presents a novel method to remotely trust a terminal application from the smart card. For terminals such as personal computers, this method is based on an advanced secure device connected through the USB and consisting of a smart card bundled with flash memory. This device, or USB dongle, can be used in the context of remote untrusting to secure portable applications conveyed in the dongle flash memory. White-box cryptography is used to set the secure channel and a mechanism based on thumbprint is described to provide external authentication when session keys need to be renewed. Although not as secure as end-to-end server to smart card security, remote entrusting with smart cards is easy to deploy for mass-market applications and can provide a reasonable level of security.

Integrated remotely sensed datasets for disaster management

Science.gov (United States)

McCarthy, Timothy; Farrell, Ronan; Curtis, Andrew; Fotheringham, A. Stewart

2008-10-01

Video imagery can be acquired from aerial, terrestrial and marine based platforms and has been exploited for a range of remote sensing applications over the past two decades. Examples include coastal surveys using aerial video, routecorridor infrastructures surveys using vehicle mounted video cameras, aerial surveys over forestry and agriculture, underwater habitat mapping and disaster management. Many of these video systems are based on interlaced, television standards such as North America's NTSC and European SECAM and PAL television systems that are then recorded using various video formats. This technology has recently being employed as a front-line, remote sensing technology for damage assessment post-disaster. This paper traces the development of spatial video as a remote sensing tool from the early 1980s to the present day. The background to a new spatial-video research initiative based at National University of Ireland, Maynooth, (NUIM) is described. New improvements are proposed and include; low-cost encoders, easy to use software decoders, timing issues and interoperability. These developments will enable specialists and non-specialists collect, process and integrate these datasets within minimal support. This integrated approach will enable decision makers to access relevant remotely sensed datasets quickly and so, carry out rapid damage assessment during and post-disaster.

Remote maintenance of Compact Ignition Tokamak ex-vessel systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DePew, R.E.; Macdonald, D.

1989-01-01

The use of deuterium-tritium (D-T) fuel in the Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT) will require applying remote handling technology for ex-vessel maintenance and replacement of machine components. Highly activated and contaminated components of the fusion device's auxiliary systems, such as diagnostics and RF heating, must be replaced using remotely operated maintenance equipment in the test cell. Throughout the CIT remote maintenance (RM) studies conducted to date, computer modeling has been used extensively to investigate manipulator access in these complex, tightly packed, and cluttered surroundings. A recent refinement of computer modeling involves the use of an intelligent engineering work station for realtime interactive display of task simulations. This paper discusses the use of three-dimensional (3-D) kinematic computer models of the CIT machines that are proving to be powerful tools in our efforts to evaluate RM requirements. This presentation includes a video-taped simulation of remote replacement of a plasma viewing assembly. The simulation illustrates some of the constraints associated with typical RM activities and the ways in which computer modeling enhances the design process. 1 ref., 3 figs

A review of microfabrication techniques and dielectrophoretic microdevices for particle manipulation and separation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, M; Li, W H; Zhang, J; Alici, G; Wen, W

2014-01-01

The development of lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices over the past decade has attracted growing interest. LOC devices aim to achieve the miniaturization, integration, automation and parallelization of biological and chemical assays. One of the applications, the ability to effectively and accurately manipulate and separate micro- and nano-scale particles in an aqueous solution, is particularly appealing in biological, chemical and medical fields. Among the technologies that have been developed and implemented in microfluidic microsystems for particle manipulation and separation (such as mechanical, inertial, hydrodynamic, acoustic, optical, magnetic and electrical methodologies), dielectrophoresis (DEP) may prove to be the most popular because of its label-free nature, ability to manipulate neutral bioparticles, analyse with high selectivity and sensitivity, compatibility with LOC devices, and easy and direct interface with electronics. The required spatial electric non-uniformities for the DEP effect can be generated by patterning microelectrode arrays within microchannels, or placing insulating obstacles within a microchannel and curving the microchannels. A wide variety of electrode- and insulator-based DEP microdevices have been developed, fabricated, and successfully employed to manipulate and separate bioparticles (i.e. DNA, proteins, bacteria, viruses, mammalian and yeast cells). This review provides an overview of the state-of-the-art of microfabrication techniques and of the structures of dielectrophoretic microdevices aimed towards different applications. The techniques used for particle manipulation and separation based on microfluidics are provided in this paper. In addition, we also present the theoretical background of DEP. (topical review)

Development of remote handling techniques for the HLLW solidification plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tosha, Yoshitsugu; Iwata, Toshio; Inada, Eiichi; Nagaki, Hiroshi; Yamamoto, Masao

1982-01-01

To develop the techniques for the remote maintenance of the equipment in a HLLW (high-level liquid waste) solidification plant, the mock-up test facility (MTF) has been designed and constructed. Before its construction, the specific mock-up equipment was manufactured and tested. The results of the test and the outline of the MTF are described. As the mock-up equipment, a denitrater-concentrator, a ceramic melter and a canister handling equipment were selected. Remote operation was performed according to the maintenance program, and the evaluation of the component was conducted on the easiness of operation, performance, and the suitability to remote handling equipment. As a result of the test, four important elements were identified; they were guides, lifting fixtures, remote handling bolts, and remote pipe connectors. Many improvements of these elements were achieved, and reflected in the design of the MTF. The MTF is a steel-framed and slate-covered building (25 mL x 20 mW x 27 mH) with five storys of test bases. It contains the following four main systems: pretreatment and off-gas treatment system, glass melting system, canister handling system and secondary waste liquid recovery system. Further development of the remote maintenance techniques is expected through the test in the MTF. (Aoki, K.)

Development of a standard methodology for optimizing remote visual display for nuclear-maintenance tasks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clarke, M.M.; Garin, J.; Preston-Anderson, A.

1981-01-01

The aim of the present study is to develop a methodology for optimizing remote viewing systems for a fuel recycle facility (HEF) being designed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). An important feature of this design involves the Remotex concept: advanced servo-controlled master/slave manipulators, with remote television viewing, will totally replace direct human contact with the radioactive environment. Therefore, the design of optimal viewing conditions is a critical component of the overall man/machine system. A methodology has been developed for optimizing remote visual displays for nuclear maintenance tasks. The usefulness of this approach has been demonstrated by preliminary specification of optimal closed circuit TV systems for such tasks

Status of EFDA Remote Participation Tools and Needs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Giese, P. [Association Euratom HAS /KFKI-RMKI, Budapest (Hungary); Castro, R.; Vega, J. [Asociation Euratom/CIEMAT para Fusion, Madrid (Spain); Schwenn, U. [Max-Planck-Institut fur Plasmaphysik, Garching (Germany)

2009-07-01

Remote Participation is key to the success of the activities carried out under JET, EFDA Task Forces and Topical Groups. The Remote Participation Technology enables work and collaborations, irrespective of the physical location of the participants. These activities include 5 broad topics. 1) Remote Data and Computer Access: the main methods used in remote computer access are VPN, SSH and Citrix. There is no strong desire to move towards a standard access method. With regards to remote data access MDSplus has become de-facto standard. Thus, it would seem sensible for data access to/from the ITM gateway to also use MDSPlus. 2) Networking: All EFDA relevant NRENs, as well as GEANT2 and Internet2 work close to perfection. There is no real need for global QoS tools. Some of the LANs have to be improved, since some Associates lack proper connections to GEANT2. 3) Distance conferences and Telecommunication: To achieve an adequate quality of remote conferences the use of H.323 based equipment together with EFDATV is recommended within the EFDA community. Several MCUs (DFNVC, ITER, F4E, NIIF) provide multipoint conference services for EFDA. 4) Collaborative Services: Collaborative environments must provide partners with resources to allow them an easy exchange of information: documents, data and audio/video streams. The EFDA Wiki tool developed for exchange of information among the technical contact persons will be open for other users groups. 5) Remote Experiment Participation: Although Remote experiment tools are still rarely implemented, some are well established and stable. The remote real time experiment data access project, which is being developed by CIEMAT, UPM University and JET CODAS, is very interesting for the users community and its results could be an important base for future developments in this field. This document is composed of an abstract followed by the presentation transparencies. (authors)

Application of advanced remote systems technology to future waste handling facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kring, C.T.; Meacham, S.A.

1987-01-01

The Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program (CFRP) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been advancing the technology of remote handling and remote maintenance for in-cell systems planned for future nuclear fuel reprocessing plants. Much of the experience and technology developed over the past decade in this endeavor is directly applicable to the proposed in-cell systems being considered for the facilities of the Federal Waste Management System (FWMS). The application of teleoperated, force-reflecting servomanipulators with television viewing could be a major step forward in waste handling facility design. Primary emphasis in the current program is the operation of a prototype remote handling and maintenance system, the advanced servomanipulator (ASM), which specifically addresses the requirements of fuel reprocessing and waste handling with emphasis on force reflection, remote maintainability, reliability, radiation tolerance, and corrosion resistance. Concurrent with the evolution of dexterous manipulators, concepts have also been developed that provide guidance for standardization of the design of the remotely operated and maintained equipment, the interface between the maintenance tools and the equipment, and the interface between the in-cell components and the facility

The remote exchange of the JET divertor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pick, M.

1999-01-01

In 1997 a series of experiments were performed in the JET machine using deuterium-tritium (D-T) mixtures and resulting in discharges with record breaking fusion power and fusion energy. The experiments demonstrated a key technology required for fusion, namely the on-line operation of a tritium fuel re-processing plant. These experiments left the inside of the JET vessel inaccessible to manned access for approximately one year. During this time, the complete Mark IIA divertor, a major system within the torus, was successfully removed and replaced with a new divertor design, the Mark II Gas Box divertor, using only remote handling techniques. This was the first application of the JET remote handling system and a demonstration of a further key ITER technology. The paper explains the methodology and operational approach taken to achieve the results using the remote handling system developed at JET. It describes the remote handling equipment including the force-reflecting servo-manipulator, the specialised tools designed, the facilities needed, and the trials, planning and training carried out to ensure the safe, reliable and rapid completion of the remote handling tasks. The planned tasks are outlined including the execution of the novel procedure for a remote, sub-millimetre precision, dimensional survey of the divertor support structure using digital photogrammetry. Furthermore the paper shows how the adaptability of the system was used to successfully undertake a large number of unplanned tasks including the removal of damaged tiles, a damaged diagnostic system and the vacuum cleaning of diagnostic windows. (author)

Development of a standard methodology for optimizing remote visual display for nuclear maintenance tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, M. M.; Garin, J.; Prestonanderson, A.

A fuel recycle facility being designed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory involves the Remotex concept: advanced servo-controlled master/slave manipulators, with remote television viewing, will totally replace direct human contact with the radioactive environment. The design of optimal viewing conditions is a critical component of the overall man/machine system. A methodology was developed for optimizing remote visual displays for nuclear maintenance tasks. The usefulness of this approach was demonstrated by preliminary specification of optimal closed circuit TV systems for such tasks.

Web based system architecture for long pulse remote experimentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heras, E. de las; Lastra, D.; Vega, J.; Castro, R.; Ruiz, M.; Barrera, E.

2010-01-01

Remote experimentation (RE) methods will be essential in next generation fusion devices. Requirements for long pulse RE will be: on-line data visualization, on-line data acquisition processes monitoring and on-line data acquisition systems interactions (start, stop or set-up modifications). Note that these methods are not oriented to real-time control of fusion plant devices. INDRA Sistemas S.A., CIEMAT (Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas Medioambientales y Tecnologicas) and UPM (Universidad Politecnica de Madrid) have designed a specific software architecture for these purposes. The architecture can be supported on the BeansNet platform, whose integration with an application server provides an adequate solution to the requirements. BeansNet is a JINI based framework developed by INDRA, which makes easy the implementation of a remote experimentation model based on a Service Oriented Architecture. The new software architecture has been designed on the basis of the experience acquired in the development of an upgrade of the TJ-II remote experimentation system.

A remotely operated excavator [HAZ-TRAK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

HAZ-TRAK is a remotely operated excavator and material handling system for nuclear waste site characterization, waste site remediation, and the decommissioning of nuclear facilities. HAZ-TRAK combines the power and mobility of a commercial excavator, with the dexterity and controllability of a force feedback manipulator system: when operating HAZ-TRAK as an excavator, the operator can feel buried objects. A master/slave control method enables the operator to intuitively control all the excavator arm functions with one hand. The main features of the excavator are described in this article. (author)

Highly active vitrification plant remote handling operational experience and improvements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milgate, I.

1996-01-01

All the main process plant and equipment at the Sellafield Waste Vitrification Plant (WVP) is enclosed in heavily shielded concrete walled cells. There is a large quantity of relatively complex plant and equipment which must be remotely operated, maintained or replaced in-cell in a severe environment. The WVP has five in-cell polar cranes which are of modular construction to aid replacement of failed components. Each can be withdrawn into a shielded cell extension for decontamination and hands-on maintenance. The cells have a total of 80 through wall tube positions to receive Master Slave Manipulators (MSMs). The MSMs are used where possible for ''pick and place'' purposes but are often called upon to position substantial pieces of mechanical equipment and thus are subject to heavy loading and high failure rates. An inward flow of air is maintained in the active cells. The discharged air passes through a filter cell where remote damper operation filter changing and maintenance is carried out by means of a PAR3000 manipulator. A Nuclear Engineered Advanced Teleoperated Robot (Neater) swabs the vitrified product container to ensure cleanliness before storage. There is a significant arising of solid radioactive waste from replaced in-cell items which undergoes sorting and size reduction in a breakdown cell equipped with a large reciprocating saw and a hydraulic shear. Improvements to the remote handling facilities made in the light of operational experience are described. (UK)

Remote distractor effects and saccadic inhibition: spatial and temporal modulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Robin; Benson, Valerie

2013-09-12

The onset of a visual distractor remote from a saccade target is known to increase saccade latency (the remote distractor effect [RDE]). In addition, distractors may also selectively inhibit saccades that would be initiated about 90 ms after distractor onset (termed saccadic inhibition [SI]). Recently, it has been proposed that the transitory inhibition of saccades (SI) may underlie the increase in mean latency (RDE). In a first experiment, the distractor eccentricity was manipulated, and a robust RDE that was strongly modulated by distractor eccentricity was observed. However, the underlying latency distributions did not reveal clear evidence of SI. A second experiment manipulated distractor spatial location and the timing of the distractor onset in relation to the target. An RDE was again observed with remote distractors away from the target axis and under conditions with early-onset distractors that would be unlikely to produce SI, whereas later distractor onsets produced an RDE along with some evidence of an SI effect. A third experiment using a mixed block of target-distractor stimulus-onset asynchronies (SOAs) revealed an RDE that varied with both distractor eccentricity and SOA and changes to latency distributions consistent with the timing of SI. We argue that the notion that SI underpins the RDE is similar to the earlier argument that express saccades underlie the fixation offset (gap) effect and that changes in mean latency and to the shape of the underlying latency distributions following a visual onset may involve more than one inhibitory process.

Aspects of remote maintenance in an FRG reprocessing plant from the manufacturer's viewpoint

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeitzchel, G.; Tennie, M.; Saal, G.

1986-01-01

In April 1986 a consortium led by Kraftwerk Union AG was commissioned by the German society for nuclear fuel reprocessing (DWK) to build the first West German commercial reprocessing plant for spent fuel assemblies. The main result of the planning efforts regarding remote maintenance operations inside the main process building was the introduction of FEMO technology (FEMO is an acronym based on German for remote handling modular technique). According to this technology the two cells in which the actual reprocessing (which is based on the PUREX technique) takes place are provided with frames to accommodate the process components (tanks, pumps, agitators, etc.), each frame together with the components which it supports forming one module. The two cells are inaccessible and windowless. For handling operations each cell is equipped with an overhead crane and a crane-like manipulator carrier system (MTS) with power manipulator. Viewing of the operations from outside the cells is made possible by television (TV) cameras installed at the crane, the MTS, and the manipulator. This paper addresses some examples of problems that still need to be solved in connection with FEMO handling. In particular, the need for close cooperation between the equipment operator, the component designer, the process engineer, the planning engineer, and the licensing authorities will be demonstrated

Lightweight submersed 'Walking' NDE manipulators for PWR and BWR vessel weld inspection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saernmark, Ivan; Lenz, Herbert

2008-01-01

Three new manipulators developed by WesDyne TRC in Sweden have under the year 2007 performed three very successful inspections in the PWR reactor Ringhals 3 and the BWR reactors Ringhals 1 and Oskarshamn 1. The manipulator systems can be used to perform inspection of circumferential and vertical welds on the reactor pressure vessel, the core shroud, core shroud support in BWR reactors or vessel and core barrel welds in PWR reactors. Most other flat or curved surfaces can be inspected using the new concept through relatively simple mechanical reconfigurations of system modules. The first inspection was performed on the R3 PWR core barrel in June 2007 with a very good result. This Manipulator is designed for access in very narrow gaps and for the type of core barrels with a shield covering the whole area of the perimeter. The manipulator is attached to the inspection area by means of a new unique suction cup system. The current manipulators consist of a curved horizontal beam, with radius similar to the reactor vessel, and a straight vertical beam, forming a T-shaped structure. By alternating the application of suction cup pairs on the horizontal beam and the vertical beam and by driving the scanning motors, the manipulator performs an incremental translational movement upwards/downwards or from side to side. The principles of this system give a well defined and stable platform for global and local positioning accuracy. A combination of advanced sensor solutions provides accurate position information in the absence of other physical reference objects. The system is controlled by the new WesDyne TRC Motor Control Panel and software, the MCP is specifically designed for remote control of submersed manipulators using techniques for cable reduction

In-vessel remote maintenance of the Compact Ignition Tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tabor, M.A.; Hager, E.R.; Creedon, R.L.; Fisher, M.V.; Atkin, S.D.

1987-01-01

The Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT) is the first deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion device that will study the physics of an ignited plasma. The ability of the tokamak vacuum vessel to be maintained remotely while under vacuum has not been fully demonstrated on previous machines, and this ability will be critical to the efficient and safe operation of ignition devices. Although manned entry into the CIT vacuum vessel will be possible during the nonactivated stages of operation, remotely automated equipment will be used to assist in initial assembly of the vessel as well as to maintain all in-vessel components once the D-T burn is achieved. Remote maintenance and operation will be routinely required for replacement of thermal protection tiles, inspection of components, leak detection, and repair welding activities. Conceptual design to support these remote maintenance activities has been integrated with the conceptual design of the in-vessel components to provide a complete and practical remote maintenance system for CIT. The primary remote assembly and maintenance operations on CIT will be accomplished through two dedicated 37- x 100-cm ports on the main toroidal vessel. Each port contains a single articulated boom manipulator (ABM), which is capable of accessing half of the torus. The proposed ABM consists of a movable carriage assembly, telescoping two-part mast, and articulated link sections. 1 ref

Measurements in Concentrated Sun using a Remote Controlled Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dan Floroian

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Nowdays, using the concentrated sunlight is a big issue because the amount of energy is very high and the light is concentrated in a very small area. The main problem in this situation is the heating, and in order to make safe measurements a remote controlled robot is needed. After that, a remote controlled robot will assume the duty of protect the measured sample and to expose it for a precise time to the concentrated sun in order to reduce heating of the sample. For easy operating, and for automatize the process, all the duties, starting with initial conditions, continuing with triggering the measurements, and conditioning the signals and finalizing with data saving must be assured by the robot.

[Manipulative reduction and external fixation with cardboard splint for the treatment of calcaneal fractures: a 60-case report].

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Bo-Chuan; Xie, Ke-Bo

2014-07-01

To investigate the therapeutic effects of manipulative reduction for calcaneal fractures. From January 2009 to June 2012, 53 cases (60 affected feet) of Sanders type I-IV calcaneal fractures were treated by manipulative reduction and external fixation with cardboard splint,including 45 males and 8 females with an average age of (33.5 +/- 1.54) years old ranging from 18 to 65. The course of disease ranged 0.5 h to 7 d. Before treatment the feet were swelling, ache and activity limitation in evidence, some feet were wide flat deformity, the cortical bone was broken in the imaging examination. All selected cases were evaluated using Creighton-Nebraska health foundation assessment scale for fractures of calcaneus. All cases were followed up at 12 months after treatment, 13 feet got excellent curative effect, 34 good, 11 moderate and 2 poor. Manipulative reduction for Sanders type I-IV calcaneal fractures could get excellent curative effect. Manipulative reduction for calcaneal fractures could avoid surgical trauma while assure high curative effects. Manipulative reduction is not only economical and easy therapy, but also can restore maximum function of the calcaneus with few complications and facilitate early rehabilitation of ankle and joint function.

Synthetic viewing: Comprehensive work representation making remote work more transparent to the operator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leinemann, K.; Katz, F.; Knueppel, H.

1994-01-01

To support the operator remote handling a number of well-developed techniques is available like transmission of forces, movements, and dexterous skills in general using masterslave manipulators equipped with special tools. In addition several types of transporters are available to position manipulators and tools. But there is a serious bottle-neck in viewing: the number of cameras is restricted and the cameras may in most cases not be positioned as to provide sufficient information. In order to improve this situation an integration of closed-loop TV and artificial viewing by sensor controlled computer graphics has been introduced successfully by KfK at JET. This integrated viewing subsystem combines not only those two techniques by providing the two views but also enhances the conventional camera control by a computer graphics model-based control. Practical experience has shown that the concept of viewing needs to be extended. Just seeing where things are is insufficient for the operators to perform their remote handling task properly. More information is required about the status of all equipment pieces involved and about the status of the entire handling task. Viewing for remote handling applications needs to include the display of such status information in a suitable form

The development of computational algorithms for manipulator inverse kinematics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sasaki, Shinobu

1989-10-01

A solution technique of the inverse kinematics for multi-joint robot manipulators has been considered to be one of the most cumbersome treatment due to non-linearity properties inclusive of trigonometric functions. The most traditional approach is to use the Jacobian matrix on linearization assumptions. This iterative technique, however, is attended with numerical problems having significant influences on the solution characteristics such as initial guess dependence and singularities. Taking these facts into consideration, new approaches have been proposed from different standpoints, which are based on polynomial transformation of kinematic model, the minimization technique in mathematical programming, vector-geometrical concept, and the separation of joint variables associated with the optimization problem. In terms of computer simulations, each approach was identified to be a useful algorithm which leads to theoretically accurate solutions to complicated inverse problems. In this way, the short-term goal of our studies on manipulator inverse problem in the R and D project of remote handling technology was accomplished with success, and consequently the present report sums up the results of basic studies on this matter. (author)

The development of robotic system for the nuclear power plants -The development of advanced robotics for the nuclear industry-

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Seung Ho; Kim, Chang Hoi; Kim, Byung Soo; Lee, Yong Bum; Hwang, Suk Yeoung; Kim, Woong Ki; Park, Soon Yong; Lee, Young Kwang; Lee, Jae Gyeong; Seo, Yong Chil

1994-07-01

The omni-directional planetary wheel type mobile robot (KAEROT/ml) has been developed on the concepts of the modularity, reliability, and stability. Manipulator system is designed in order to be able to install on mobile system and to upgrade operating capability. Control system consists of 68030 processor board, servo motor controller and I/O board. The 6 DOFs hydraulic manipulator is designed for nozzle dam installation and removal. The reachable length of manipulator is 1.7 m with the wrist configuration of pitch-yaw-roll. For the easy installation of manipulator from outside steam generator, specially designed guider is considered. Also master manipulator is designed for force feedback control. RCP (Remote Control Part) is constructed with Sparc processor boards and servo control boards. Graphic simulation has done for the evaluation of manipulator performance of nozzle dam works. (Author)

Digitise this! A quick and easy remote sensing method to monitor the daily extent of dredge plumes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard D Evans

Full Text Available Technological advancements in remote sensing and GIS have improved natural resource managers' abilities to monitor large-scale disturbances. In a time where many processes are heading towards automation, this study has regressed to simple techniques to bridge a gap found in the advancement of technology. The near-daily monitoring of dredge plume extent is common practice using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS imagery and associated algorithms to predict the total suspended solids (TSS concentration in the surface waters originating from floods and dredge plumes. Unfortunately, these methods cannot determine the difference between dredge plume and benthic features in shallow, clear water. This case study at Barrow Island, Western Australia, uses hand digitising to demonstrate the ability of human interpretation to determine this difference with a level of confidence and compares the method to contemporary TSS methods. Hand digitising was quick, cheap and required very little training of staff to complete. Results of ANOSIM R statistics show remote sensing derived TSS provided similar spatial results if they were thresholded to at least 3 mg L(-1. However, remote sensing derived TSS consistently provided false-positive readings of shallow benthic features as Plume with a threshold up to TSS of 6 mg L(-1, and began providing false-negatives (excluding actual plume at a threshold as low as 4 mg L(-1. Semi-automated processes that estimate plume concentration and distinguish between plumes and shallow benthic features without the arbitrary nature of human interpretation would be preferred as a plume monitoring method. However, at this stage, the hand digitising method is very useful and is more accurate at determining plume boundaries over shallow benthic features and is accessible to all levels of management with basic training.

Development of simulator for remote handling system of ITER blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeda, Nobukazu; Kakudate, Satoshi; Nakanhira, Masataka; Matsumoto, Yasuhiro; Shibanuma, K.

2007-01-01

The maintenance activity in the ITER has to be performed remotely because 14 MeV neutron caused by fusion reaction induces activation of structural material and emission of gamma ray. In general, it is one of the most critical issues to avoid collision between the remote maintenance system and in-vessel components. Therefore, the visual information in the vacuum vessel is required strongly to understand arrangement of these devices and components. However, there is a limitation of arrangement of viewing cameras in the vessel because of high intensity of gamma ray. It is expected that enough numbers of cameras and lights are not available because of arrangement restriction. Furthermore, visibility of the interested area such as the contacting part is frequently disturbed by the devices and components, thus it is difficult to recognize relative position between the devices and components only by visual information even if enough cameras and lights are equipped. From these reasons, the simulator to recognize the positions of each devices and components is indispensable for remote handling systems in fusion reactors. The authors have been developed a simulator for the remote maintenance system of the ITER blanket using a general 3D robot simulation software ''ENVISION''. The simulator is connected to the control system of the manipulator which was developed as a part of the blanket maintenance system in the EDA and can reconstruct the positions of the manipulator and the blanket module using the position data of the motors through the LAN. In addition, it can provide virtual visual information, such as the connecting operation behind the blanket module with making the module transparent on the screen. It can be used also for checking the maintenance sequence before the actual operation. The developed simulator will be modified further adding other necessary functions and finally completed as a prototype of the actual simulator for the blanket remote handling system

Easy To Use Remote Sensing and GIS Analysis for Landslide Risk Assessment.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hayder Dibs

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Many countries throughout the world suffered from the natural risks, they cause a large damage in property and loss in human lives, we cannot prevent the occurring of these hazards but, it is possible to reduce their affect in saving human lives and reducing the damage in properties. Several methodologies have been conducted to predict the suitable model for landslide assessment. The susceptibility maps of landslide hazard generated by combining the remote sensed data with the capability of GIS (geographic information system. We discussed different type of algorithms and factors for modeling the prediction of landslide risk assessment such as SVM (support vector machine, DT (decision tree, ANFIS (adaptive neural-fuzzy inference system, AHP (analytic hierarchy process, ANN (artificial neural network, probability frequency of landslides occurrence factors model and empirical model. The study evaluated various parameters that are responsible for landslide occurrence and the weighting for each parameter and its importance to probable of landslide activity. AHP method, Weights of evidence model, and back propagation method have been applied for weighting the factors.  We found that using ANN algorithm with more than ten factors will give high accuracy result especially if the validation performs by field surveys data.

Remote Fiber Laser Cutting System for Dismantling Glass Melter - 13071

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mitsui, Takashi; Miura, Noriaki [IHI Corporation, 1 Shin-Nakahara-cho, Isogo-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa (Japan); Oowaki, Katsura; Kawaguchi, Isao [IHI Inspection and Instrumentation Co., Ltd, 1 Shin-Nakahara-cho, Isogo-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa (Japan); Miura, Yasuhiko; Ino, Tooru [Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited, 4-108, Aza Okitsuke, Oaza Obuchi, Rokkasho-Mura, Kamikita-gun, Aomori (Japan)

2013-07-01

Since 2008, the equipment for dismantling the used glass melter has been developed in High-level Liquid Waste (HLW) Vitrification Facility in the Japanese Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant (RRP). Due to the high radioactivity of the glass melter, the equipment requires a fully-remote operation in the vitrification cell. The remote fiber laser cutting system was adopted as one of the major pieces of equipment. An output power of fiber laser is typically higher than other types of laser and so can provide high-cutting performance. The fiber laser can cut thick stainless steel and Inconel, which are parts of the glass melter such as casings, electrodes and nozzles. As a result, it can make the whole of the dismantling work efficiently done for a shorter period. Various conditions of the cutting test have been evaluated in the process of developing the remote fiber cutting system. In addition, the expected remote operations of the power manipulator with the laser torch have been fully verified and optimized using 3D simulations. (authors)

1001 easy French phrases

CERN Document Server

McCoy, Heather

2010-01-01

The perfect companion for tourists and business travelers in France and other places where the French language is spoken, this book offers fast, effective communication. More than 1,000 basic words, phrases, and sentences cover everything from asking directions and renting a car to ordering dinner and finding a bank.Designed as a quick reference tool and an easy study guide, this inexpensive and easy-to-use book offers completely up-to-date terms for modern telecommunications, idioms, and slang. The contents are arranged for quick access to phrases related to greetings, transportation, shoppin

Comparison of standard maximum likelihood classification and polytomous logistic regression used in remote sensing

Science.gov (United States)

John Hogland; Nedret Billor; Nathaniel Anderson

2013-01-01

Discriminant analysis, referred to as maximum likelihood classification within popular remote sensing software packages, is a common supervised technique used by analysts. Polytomous logistic regression (PLR), also referred to as multinomial logistic regression, is an alternative classification approach that is less restrictive, more flexible, and easy to interpret. To...

Making rural and remote communities more age-friendly: experts' perspectives on issues, challenges, and priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

Menec, Verena; Bell, Sheri; Novek, Sheila; Minnigaleeva, Gulnara A; Morales, Ernesto; Ouma, Titus; Parodi, Jose F; Winterton, Rachel

2015-01-01

With the growing interest worldwide in making communities more age-friendly, it is becoming increasingly important to understand the factors that help or hinder communities in attaining this goal. In this article, we focus on rural and remote communities and present perspectives of 42 experts in the areas of aging, rural and remote issues, and policy who participated in a consensus conference on age-friendly rural and remote communities. Discussions highlighted that strengths in rural and remote communities, such as easy access to local leaders and existing partnerships, can help to further age-friendly goals; however, addressing major challenges, such as lack of infrastructure and limited availability of social and health services, requires regional or national government buy-in and funding opportunities. Age-friendly work in rural and remote communities is, therefore, ideally embedded in larger age-friendly initiatives and supported by regional or national policies, programs, and funding sources.

Proceedings (slides, posters) of the 7. IAEA Technical Meeting on Control, Data Acquisition, and Remote Participation for Fusion Research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

The main objective of this meeting is to present and discuss new developments and perspectives in the areas of control, data acquisition and remote participation for nuclear research around the world. The following topics have been covered: 1) plasma control, 2) machine control, monitoring, safety and remote manipulation, 3) data acquisition and signal processing, 4) database techniques for information storage and retrieval, 5) advanced computing and massive data analysis, 6) remote participation and virtual laboratory, 7) fast network technology and its application, and 8) ITER

Capabilities of a remote work vehicle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whittaker, W.L.; Champeny, L.

1987-01-01

The remote work vehicle (RWV) is a mobile work system for recovery operations in radiological environments. A teleoperated, electrohydraulically powered system, the RWV features omnidirectional locomotion, a telescoping boom with a seven meter reach, a master/slave manipulator, ten cameras, a tether for sustained power, and an offboard console where three operators control vehicle functions. (The RWV is more fully described elsewhere see bibliography; capability is emphasized here). Capabilities of the base vehicle and specialized tooling allow the RWV to perform accident recovery tasks, including demolishing concrete and steel structures, decontaminating and sealing surfaces, removing water and sediment from flooded areas, emplacing shields, packaging and transporting materials, and performing general inspections. Aspirations for reliability have made the RWV an order of magnitude more complex than its predecessor recovery robots, and ambitions for task performance have made it two orders of magnitude more capable. In addition to nuclear recovery work, the RWV is a viable candidate for other remote work applications, including nuclear facility maintenance and decommissioning

Easy Bruising: Common as You Age

Science.gov (United States)

Healthy Lifestyle Healthy aging If you're experiencing easy bruising, you might have questions about what's causing the ... 04, 2017 Original article: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/healthy-aging/in-depth/easy-bruising/art-20045762 . ...

General concept of a remote multipurpose vehicle for nuclear applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Devresse, M.; Costa, L.; DeBuck, F.

1984-01-01

A remotely operated autonomous system is presently developed for inspection and intervention inside the reactor building of nuclear power plants. The vehicle is also suitable for other nuclear and non-nuclear energy related task areas where inspection and intervention operations are taking place in hazardous environment. The goal of this remote robot is to significantly reduce personnel exposure to radiation or other risks. The system consists of five major items: an autonomous motorized carrier, two slave manipulators mounted on an interface structure, optical and environmental sensors, the digital electronic control and communication module, the man-machine interface. Main design and performance characteristics of the system are described as well as a description of the evaluation and test program

Three-dimensional television system for remote handling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dumbreck, A.A.; Abel, E.

1988-01-01

The paper refers to work previously described on the development of 3-D Television Systems. 3-D TV had been developed with a view to proving whether it was a useful remote handling tool which would be easy to use and comfortable to view. The paper summarizes the work of evaluation trials at UK facilities and reviews the developments which have subsequently taken place. 3-D TV systems have been found to give improved performance in terms of speed and accuracy of operations and to reduce the number of camera views required. (author)

REMOTE IN-CELL SAMPLING IMPROVEMENTS PROGRAM AT THESAVANNAH RIVER SITE (SRS) DEFENSE WASTE PROCESSING FACILITY (DWPF)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marzolf, A

2007-01-01

Remote Systems Engineering (RSE) of the Savannah River National Lab (SRNL) in combination with the Defense Waste Processing Facility(DWPF) Engineering and Operations has evaluated the existing equipment and processes used in the facility sample cells for 'pulling' samples from the radioactive waste stream and performing equipment in-cell repairs/replacements. RSE has designed and tested equipment for improving remote in-cell sampling evolutions and reducing the time required for in-cell maintenance of existing equipment. The equipment within the present process tank sampling system has been in constant use since the facility start-up over 17 years ago. At present, the method for taking samples within the sample cells produces excessive maintenance and downtime due to frequent failures relative to the sampling station equipment and manipulator. Location and orientation of many sampling stations within the sample cells is not conducive to manipulator operation. The overextension of manipulators required to perform many in-cell operations is a major cause of manipulator failures. To improve sampling operations and reduce downtime due to equipment maintenance, a Portable Sampling Station (PSS), wireless in-cell cameras, and new commercially available sampling technology has been designed, developed and/or adapted and tested. The uniqueness of the design(s), the results of the scoping tests, and the benefits relative to in-cell operation and reduction of waste are presented

EJS, JIL Server, and LabVIEW: An Architecture for Rapid Development of Remote Labs

Science.gov (United States)

Chacón, Jesús; Vargas, Hector; Farias, Gonzalo; Sanchez, José; Dormido, Sebastián

2015-01-01

Designing and developing web-enabled remote laboratories for pedagogical purposes is not an easy task. Often, developers (generally, educators who know the subjects they teach but lack of the technical and programming skills required to build Internet-based educational applications) end up discarding the idea of exploring these new teaching and…

Effect of sacroiliac manipulation on postural sway in quiet standing: a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Farazdaghi, Mohammad Reza; Motealleh, Alireza; Abtahi, Forough; Panjan, Andrej; Šarabon, Nejc; Ghaffarinejad, Farahnaz

Sacroiliac joint manipulation can alter joint and muscle control mechanisms through local and remote effects. Postural balance is controlled by supraspinal (rambling) and spinal-peripheral (trembling) mechanisms. A manipulation may interfere with postural control in quiet standing. To evaluate the immediate effects of sacroiliac joint manipulation on postural control in patients with (1) sacroiliac dysfunction and (2) to determine whether rambling and trembling are affected by sacroiliac joint manipulation. 32 patients aged between 20 and 50 years old were selected by convenience after confirmation of sacroiliac joint dysfunction by clinical examination. These patients were randomly allocated either to manipulation or sham manipulation group. Displacement, velocity and frequency of the center of pressure, rambling and trembling in the anterior-posterior and medial-lateral directions were our primary outcomes and analyzed immediately before and after the intervention in quiet standing. The physical therapists who performed the physical, biomechanical and statistical examinations, were all blinded to the patients' grouping. No differences were found between the two groups but trembling velocity (0.14 and -0.11 for intervention and sham group, respectively) and frequency (0.17 and 0.11 for intervention and sham group respectively) increased after intervention in the treatment group in the anterior-posterior direction. Generally, sacroiliac joint manipulation had no superiority than sham treatment regarding postural control as measured by rambling-trembling analysis of center of pressure. Manipulation may increase muscle activation in the treatment group due to increased trembling parameters. Trial number: IRCT2014072715932N8 - http://www.irct.ir/searchresult.php?keyword=%D8%B3%D9%88%DB%8C%D9%87&id=15932&field=&number=8&prt=13&total=10&m=1. Copyright © 2017 Associação Brasileira de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação em Fisioterapia. Publicado por Elsevier Editora Ltda. All

Reliability review of the remote tool delivery system locomotor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chesser, J.B.

1999-04-01

The locomotor being built by RedZone Robotics is designed to serve as a remote tool delivery (RID) system for waste retrieval, tank cleaning, viewing, and inspection inside the high-level waste tanks 8D-1 and 8D-2 at West Valley Nuclear Services (WVNS). The RTD systm is to be deployed through a tank riser. The locomotor portion of the RTD system is designed to be inserted into the tank and is to be capable of moving around the tank by supporting itself and moving on the tank internal structural columns. The locomotor will serve as a mounting platform for a dexterous manipulator arm. The complete RTD system consists of the locomotor, dexterous manipulator arm, cameras, lights, cables, hoses, cable/hose management system, power supply, and operator control station.

Control room concept for remote maintenance in high radiation areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clarke, M.M.; Kreifeldt, J.G.

1984-01-01

This paper summarizes the design of a control room concept for an operator interface with remote maintenance equipment consisting of force-reflecting manipulators, tools, hoists, cranes, cameras, and lights. The design development involved two major activities. First, detailed requirements were defined for foreseeable functions that will be performed by the control room operators. Second, concepts were developed, tested, and refined to meet these requirements. 6 references, 3 figures

Currency Manipulation versus Current Account Manipulation

OpenAIRE

Junning Cai

2005-01-01

It is said that a country’s currency peg can become currency manipulation representing protracted government intervention in the foreign exchange market that gives it unfair competitive advantage in international trade yet prevents effective balance of payments in its trade partners. Regarding this widespread fallacy, this paper explains why currency peg is not currency manipulation even when it keeps a country’s currency undervalued. We clarify that 1) government is inherently a major player...

Design of a Flexible Hardware Interface for Multiple Remote Electronic practical Experiments of Virtual Laboratory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farah Said

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The objective of this work is to present a new design of a Flexible Hardware Interface (FHI based on PID control techniques to use in a virtual laboratory. This flexible hardware interface allows the easy implementation of different and multiple remote electronic practical experiments for undergraduate engineering classes. This interface can be viewed as opened hardware architecture to easily develop simple or complex remote experiments in the electronic domain. The philosophy of the use of this interface can also be expanded to many other domains as optic experiments for instance. It is also demonstrated that software can be developed to enable remote measurements of electronic circuits or systems using only Web site Interface. Using standard browsers (such as Internet explorer, Firefox, Chrome or Safari, different students can have a remote access to different practical experiments at a time.

Clinical Evaluation of the Use of a Multifunctional Remotely Controlled Insulin Pump

Science.gov (United States)

Pinget, Michel; Lachgar, Karim; Parkin, Christopher G.; Grulet, Hervé; Guillon-Metz, Françoise; Weissmann, Joerg

2014-01-01

Current insulin pumps now feature advanced functions for calculating insulin dosages, delivering insulin and analyzing data, however, the perceived usefulness of these functions in clinical settings has not been well studied. We assessed the use and patient perceptions of an insulin delivery system (Accu-Chek® Combo, Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany) that combines an insulin pump and a handheld multifunctional blood glucose meter with integrated remote control functions. This prospective, observational, multicenter study enrolled 74 type 1 diabetes patients within 13 weeks after starting use of the pump system. At 4 to 24 weeks, investigators collected usage data from the latest 14-day period. Seventy-two patients completed the evaluation, aged 39 ± 15 years, diabetes duration 16 ± 13 years, HbA1c 8.3 ± 1.6%. At follow-up, 62 (86.1%) patients used the remote control for ≥50% of all boluses, 20 (27.8%) used the bolus advisor for ≥50% of all boluses, and 42 (58.3%) viewed at least 1 of the e-logbook reports. More than 95% of users appraised the functions as easy-to-use and useful; median scores from VAS (0 = useless to 100 = indispensable) ranged from 72 to 85. A high percentage of study patients used the system’s advanced features, especially the remote control feature for bolusing. Overall, patients assessed the functions as useful and easy to use. Results support the implementation of these smart capabilities in further insulin pump developments. PMID:25107708

Real-time networked control of an industrial robot manipulator via discrete-time second-order sliding modes

Science.gov (United States)

Massimiliano Capisani, Luca; Facchinetti, Tullio; Ferrara, Antonella

2010-08-01

This article presents the networked control of a robotic anthropomorphic manipulator based on a second-order sliding mode technique, where the control objective is to track a desired trajectory for the manipulator. The adopted control scheme allows an easy and effective distribution of the control algorithm over two networked machines. While the predictability of real-time tasks execution is achieved by the Soft Hard Real-Time Kernel (S.Ha.R.K.) real-time operating system, the communication is established via a standard Ethernet network. The performances of the control system are evaluated under different experimental system configurations using, to perform the experiments, a COMAU SMART3-S2 industrial robot, and the results are analysed to put into evidence the robustness of the proposed approach against possible network delays, packet losses and unmodelled effects.

Precise Manipulation and Patterning of Protein Crystals for Macromolecular Crystallography Using Surface Acoustic Waves.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Feng; Zhou, Weijie; Li, Peng; Mao, Zhangming; Yennawar, Neela H; French, Jarrod B; Huang, Tony Jun

2015-06-01

Advances in modern X-ray sources and detector technology have made it possible for crystallographers to collect usable data on crystals of only a few micrometers or less in size. Despite these developments, sample handling techniques have significantly lagged behind and often prevent the full realization of current beamline capabilities. In order to address this shortcoming, a surface acoustic wave-based method for manipulating and patterning crystals is developed. This method, which does not damage the fragile protein crystals, can precisely manipulate and pattern micrometer and submicrometer-sized crystals for data collection and screening. The technique is robust, inexpensive, and easy to implement. This method not only promises to significantly increase efficiency and throughput of both conventional and serial crystallography experiments, but will also make it possible to collect data on samples that were previously intractable. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

mGrid: A load-balanced distributed computing environment for the remote execution of the user-defined Matlab code

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Almeida Jonas S

2006-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Matlab, a powerful and productive language that allows for rapid prototyping, modeling and simulation, is widely used in computational biology. Modeling and simulation of large biological systems often require more computational resources then are available on a single computer. Existing distributed computing environments like the Distributed Computing Toolbox, MatlabMPI, Matlab*G and others allow for the remote (and possibly parallel execution of Matlab commands with varying support for features like an easy-to-use application programming interface, load-balanced utilization of resources, extensibility over the wide area network, and minimal system administration skill requirements. However, all of these environments require some level of access to participating machines to manually distribute the user-defined libraries that the remote call may invoke. Results mGrid augments the usual process distribution seen in other similar distributed systems by adding facilities for user code distribution. mGrid's client-side interface is an easy-to-use native Matlab toolbox that transparently executes user-defined code on remote machines (i.e. the user is unaware that the code is executing somewhere else. Run-time variables are automatically packed and distributed with the user-defined code and automated load-balancing of remote resources enables smooth concurrent execution. mGrid is an open source environment. Apart from the programming language itself, all other components are also open source, freely available tools: light-weight PHP scripts and the Apache web server. Conclusion Transparent, load-balanced distribution of user-defined Matlab toolboxes and rapid prototyping of many simple parallel applications can now be done with a single easy-to-use Matlab command. Because mGrid utilizes only Matlab, light-weight PHP scripts and the Apache web server, installation and configuration are very simple. Moreover, the web

mGrid: a load-balanced distributed computing environment for the remote execution of the user-defined Matlab code.

Science.gov (United States)

Karpievitch, Yuliya V; Almeida, Jonas S

2006-03-15

Matlab, a powerful and productive language that allows for rapid prototyping, modeling and simulation, is widely used in computational biology. Modeling and simulation of large biological systems often require more computational resources then are available on a single computer. Existing distributed computing environments like the Distributed Computing Toolbox, MatlabMPI, Matlab*G and others allow for the remote (and possibly parallel) execution of Matlab commands with varying support for features like an easy-to-use application programming interface, load-balanced utilization of resources, extensibility over the wide area network, and minimal system administration skill requirements. However, all of these environments require some level of access to participating machines to manually distribute the user-defined libraries that the remote call may invoke. mGrid augments the usual process distribution seen in other similar distributed systems by adding facilities for user code distribution. mGrid's client-side interface is an easy-to-use native Matlab toolbox that transparently executes user-defined code on remote machines (i.e. the user is unaware that the code is executing somewhere else). Run-time variables are automatically packed and distributed with the user-defined code and automated load-balancing of remote resources enables smooth concurrent execution. mGrid is an open source environment. Apart from the programming language itself, all other components are also open source, freely available tools: light-weight PHP scripts and the Apache web server. Transparent, load-balanced distribution of user-defined Matlab toolboxes and rapid prototyping of many simple parallel applications can now be done with a single easy-to-use Matlab command. Because mGrid utilizes only Matlab, light-weight PHP scripts and the Apache web server, installation and configuration are very simple. Moreover, the web-based infrastructure of mGrid allows for it to be easily extensible over

Measurement methods and variability assessment of the Norway spruce total leaf area: Implications for remote sensing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Homolova, L.; Lukes, P.; Malenovsky, Z.; Lhotakova, Z.; Kaplan, V.; Hanus, J.

2013-01-01

Estimation of total leaf area (LAT) is important to express biochemical properties in plant ecology and remote sensing studies. A measurement of LAT is easy in broadleaf species, but it remains challenging in coniferous canopies. We proposed a new geometrical model to estimate Norway spruce LAT and

Usability of the remote console for virtual reality telerehabilitation: formative evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Jeffrey A; Deutsch, Judith E; Burdea, Grigore

2006-04-01

The Remote Console (ReCon) is a telerehabilitation application that allows therapists to remotely communicate with patients while monitoring and controlling their virtual rehabilitation exercises. It provides therapists visual feedback of patients' movements, their exercise simulations replicated in real time and with tools to conduct training without a face-to-face session. The Recon underwent a formative evaluation (a type of usability engineering methodology) used to refine its design. Five physical therapists from different practice settings acted as representative users. During the evaluation, these users made errors related to manipulation and finding and understanding controls. Technical issues with the server and audio communication were identified. These findings were used to fine-tune the ReCon system.

Mock-up tests of rail-mounted vehicle type in-vessel transporter/manipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oka, K.; Kakaudate, S.; Fukatsu, S.

1995-01-01

A rail-mounted vehicle system has been developed for remote maintenance of in-vessel components for fusion experimental reactor. In this system, a rail deploying/storing system is installed at outside of the reactor core and used to deploy a rail transporter and vehicle/manipulator for the in-vessel maintenance. A prototype of the rail deploying/storing system has been fabricated for mockup tests. This paper describes structural design of the prototypical rail deploying/storing system and results of the performance tests such as payload capacity, position control and rail deployment/storage performance

From Classroom Teaching to Remote Teaching

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borch, Ole; Helbo, Jan; Knudsen, Morten

2000-01-01

for teaching purpose on the Internet. It is also described how courses in the two different teaching environments can be maintained in one place. More professional teaching tools are available on the market, but the methods described in this paper are based on Luvit[1], an open low-cost web-based teaching tool...... and at the same time easy to learn and use by both developer and students. Two in-house project groups have tested the project work with success after a short learning period. 35 remote students under Open Education in Multimedia Industrial Information Technology (MII) are using the Luvit[1] tool and the methods...

A first wall material probe manipulator for the 'TEXTOR' tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marmy, P.; Stiefel, U.

1984-04-01

Textor is a technology oriented tokamak of Euratom at the Kernforschungsanlage Juelich (KFA). Switzerland participates in its experimental program within the framework of the IEA agreement on Plasma Wall Interaction. A major task of EIR consists in the layout, construction and fabrication of a manipulator for the remote handling of up to 240 specimen candidate first wall materials. This operation has to be done without breaking the ultra high vacuum (UHV) and with wall temperatures up to 300 0 C. A great number of preexperiments involving different materials had to be carried out; the understanding of the tribology in ultra high vacuum could be improved. (Auth.)

Remote methods for decontamination and decommissioning operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DeVore, J.R.

1986-01-01

Three methods for the decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear facilities are described along with operational experience associated with each method. Each method described in some way reduces radiation exposure to the operating personnel involved. Electrochemical decontamination of process tanks is described using an in-situ method. Descriptions of two processes, electropolishing and cerium redox decontamination, are listed. A method of essentially smokeless cutting of process piping using a plasma-arc cutting torch is described. In one technique, piping is cut remotely from a distance using a specially modified torch holder. In another technique, cutting is done with master-slave manipulators inside a hot cell. Finally, a method for remote cutting and scarification of contaminated concrete is described. This system, which utilizes high-pressure water jets, is coupled to a cutting head or rotating scarification head. The system is suited for cutting contaminated concrete for removal or removing a thin layer in a controlled manner for decontamination. 4 refs., 6 figs

Remote methods for decontamination and decommissioning operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DeVore, J.R.

1986-01-01

Three methods for the decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear facilities are described along with operational experience associated with each method. Each method described in some way reduces radiation exposure to the operating personnel involved. Electrochemical decontamination of process tanks is described using an in-situ method. Descriptions of two processes, electropolishing and cerium redox decontamination, are listed. A method of essentially smokeless cutting of process piping using a plasma-arc cutting torch is described. In one technique, piping is cut remotely from a distance using a specially modified torch holder. In another technique, cutting is done with master-slave manipulators inside a hot cell. Finally, a method for remote cutting and scarification of contaminated concrete is described. This system, which utilizes high-pressure water jets, is coupled to a cutting head or rotating scarification head. The system is suited for cutting contaminated concrete for removal or removing a thin layer in a controlled manner for decontamination

Control room concept for remote maintenance in high radiation areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clarke, M.M.; Kreifeldt, J.G.

1984-01-01

This paper summarizes the design of a control room concept for an operator interface with remote maintenance equipment consisting of force-reflecting manipulators, tools, hoists, cranes, cameras, and lights. The design development involved two major activities. First, detailed requirements were defined for foreseeable functions that will be performed by the control room operators. Second, concepts were developed, tested, and refined to meet these requirements. Each of these activities is summarized below. 6 references, 3 figures

Lightweight submersed 'Walking' NDE manipulators for PWR and BWR vessel weld inspection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saernmark, Ivan; Lenz, Herbert [WesDyne TRC AB, Stockholm (Sweden)

2008-04-15

Three new manipulators developed by WesDyne TRC in Sweden have under the year 2007 performed three very successful inspections in the PWR reactor Ringhals 3 and the BWR reactors Ringhals 1 and Oskarshamn 1. The manipulator systems can be used to perform inspection of circumferential and vertical welds on the reactor pressure vessel, the core shroud, core shroud support in BWR reactors or vessel and core barrel welds in PWR reactors. Most other flat or curved surfaces can be inspected using the new concept through relatively simple mechanical reconfigurations of system modules. The first inspection was performed on the R3 PWR core barrel in June 2007 with a very good result. This Manipulator is designed for access in very narrow gaps and for the type of core barrels with a shield covering the whole area of the perimeter. The manipulator is attached to the inspection area by means of a new unique suction cup system. The current manipulators consist of a curved horizontal beam, with radius similar to the reactor vessel, and a straight vertical beam, forming a T-shaped structure. By alternating the application of suction cup pairs on the horizontal beam and the vertical beam and by driving the scanning motors, the manipulator performs an incremental translational movement upwards/downwards or from side to side. The principles of this system give a well defined and stable platform for global and local positioning accuracy. A combination of advanced sensor solutions provides accurate position information in the absence of other physical reference objects. The system is controlled by the new WesDyne TRC Motor Control Panel and software, the MCP is specifically designed for remote control of submersed manipulators using techniques for cable reduction.

Normative data for Chinese compound remote associate problems.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Ching-Lin; Chen, Hsueh-Chih

2017-12-01

The Remote Associates Test (RAT) is a well-known measure of creativity, with each item on the RAT is composed of three unrelated stimulus words. The participant's task is to find an answer in the form of a word that could combine with each of the stimulus words, thus forming three new actual nouns. Researchers have modified the RAT to develop compound remote associate problems that emphasize combining vocabulary to form compound words. In the field of creativity research for Mandarin speakers, the Chinese RAT has been widely applied for over 10 years. The original RAT, compound remote associate problems, and Chinese RAT have various common advantages, such as being convenient to use and having objective scoring; additionally, the development of items for certain tests is easy and satisfies the requirements of psychological assessments in terms of the quantity of items. Currently, many language editions of the RAT and compound remote associate problems already exist. In particular, the English and Italian versions of these tests already have derived normative data. Because approximately 20% of the world's population are native Mandarin speakers, and because increasing numbers of people are choosing Mandarin as a second language, the need to increase Mandarin-language resources is growing; however, normative data for the Chinese RAT still do not exist. To address this issue, in the present study we developed Chinese compound remote associate problems and analyzed the passing rates by items, problem solving times, and various normative data, using the responses of 253 subjects in three experiments.

TPX remote maintenance and shielding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rennich, M.J.; Nelson, B.E.

1994-01-01

The Tokamak Physics Experiment machine design incorporates comprehensive planning for efficient and safe component maintenance. Three programmatic decisions have been made to insure the successful implementation of this objective. First, the tokamak incorporates radiation shielding to reduce activation of components and limit the dose rate to personnel working on the outside of the machine. This allows most of the ex-vessel equipment to be maintained through conventional ''hands-on'' procedures. Second, to the maximum extent possible, low activation materials will be used inside the shielding volume. This resulted in the selection of Titanium (Ti-6Al-4V) for the vacuum vessel and PFC structures. The third decision stipulated that the primary in-vessel components will be replaced or repaired via remote maintenance tools specifically provided for the task. The component designers have been given the responsibility of incorporating maintenance design and for proving the maintainability of the design concepts in full-scale mockup tests prior to the initiation of final fabrication. Remote maintenance of the TPX machine is facilitated by general purpose tools provided by a special purpose design team. Major tools will include an in-vessel transporter, a vessel transfer system and a large component transfer container. In addition, tools such as manipulators and remotely operable impact wrenches will be made available to the component designers by this group. Maintenance systems will also provide the necessary controls for this equipment

Testbed for remote telepresence research

Science.gov (United States)

Adnan, Sarmad; Cheatham, John B., Jr.

1992-11-01

Teleoperated robots offer solutions to problems associated with operations in remote and unknown environments, such as space. Teleoperated robots can perform tasks related to inspection, maintenance, and retrieval. A video camera can be used to provide some assistance in teleoperations, but for fine manipulation and control, a telepresence system that gives the operator a sense of actually being at the remote location is more desirable. A telepresence system comprised of a head-tracking stereo camera system, a kinematically redundant arm, and an omnidirectional mobile robot has been developed at the mechanical engineering department at Rice University. This paper describes the design and implementation of this system, its control hardware, and software. The mobile omnidirectional robot has three independent degrees of freedom that permit independent control of translation and rotation, thereby simulating a free flying robot in a plane. The kinematically redundant robot arm has eight degrees of freedom that assist in obstacle and singularity avoidance. The on-board control computers permit control of the robot from the dual hand controllers via a radio modem system. A head-mounted display system provides the user with a stereo view from a pair of cameras attached to the mobile robotics system. The head tracking camera system moves stereo cameras mounted on a three degree of freedom platform to coordinate with the operator's head movements. This telepresence system provides a framework for research in remote telepresence, and teleoperations for space.

Remote maintenance in the building of the reactor of power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonin, R.

1984-01-01

Examples describing the different operations requiring remote control for reactor maintenance are given. These operations include: refueling machines (for closure stud, vessel flange cleaning, screwing plug for channel head, swimming pool decontamination) in-service inspection machines (MIS, spider for eddy current testing of steam generator, television) and routine or accidental maintenance (leak detection in water boxes, maintenance spider, opening or closing primary manways, decontamination manipulators and various automatic control devices) [fr

Remote-operated systems for interventions in civil nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonneville, A.

1999-01-01

This short paper is a presentation of the aerial and terrestrial means developed by the Intra Group specialized in interventions in the case of nuclear accidents and incidents. The aerial means consist in a airborne system called Helinuc and which can perform spectro-gamma measurements over surfaces of about 15 km 2 using an 'Ecureuil'-type helicopter. The terrestrial means comprise different types of robots for surveys, sampling, manipulation, various works etc.. and remote-controlled caterpillar tractors, shovels and dumper trucks. (J.S.)

A Multi-purpose Rescue Vehicle and a human–robot interface architecture for remote assistance in ITER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soares, João; Vale, Alberto; Ventura, Rodrigo

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Design of an omnidirectional vehicle equipped with cameras and laser range finders. • Two robotic manipulators that slide over the vehicle's body to perform independent tasks. • Architecture to connect the control system, communication, power, navigation and HMI. • An immersive interface HMI with augmented reality features with head mounted display. - Abstract: The remote handling (RH) plays an important role in nuclear test facilities, such as in ITER, for in-vessel and ex-vessel maintenance operations. Unexpected situations may occur when RH devices fail. Since no human being is allowed during the RH operations, a Multi-purpose Rescue Vehicle (MPRV) must be required for providing support in site. This paper proposes a design of a MPRV, i.e., a mobile platform equipped with different sensors and two manipulators with different sets of end-effectors. A human–machine interface is also proposed to remotely operate the MPRV and to carry out rescue and recovery operations.

A Multi-purpose Rescue Vehicle and a human–robot interface architecture for remote assistance in ITER

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soares, João [Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Vale, Alberto, E-mail: avale@ipfn.tecnico.ulisboa.pt [Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto SuperiorTécnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Ventura, Rodrigo, E-mail: rodrigo.ventura@isr.tecnico.ulisboa.pt [Laboratório de Robótica e Sistemas em Engenharia eCiência, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal)

2015-10-15

Highlights: • Design of an omnidirectional vehicle equipped with cameras and laser range finders. • Two robotic manipulators that slide over the vehicle's body to perform independent tasks. • Architecture to connect the control system, communication, power, navigation and HMI. • An immersive interface HMI with augmented reality features with head mounted display. - Abstract: The remote handling (RH) plays an important role in nuclear test facilities, such as in ITER, for in-vessel and ex-vessel maintenance operations. Unexpected situations may occur when RH devices fail. Since no human being is allowed during the RH operations, a Multi-purpose Rescue Vehicle (MPRV) must be required for providing support in site. This paper proposes a design of a MPRV, i.e., a mobile platform equipped with different sensors and two manipulators with different sets of end-effectors. A human–machine interface is also proposed to remotely operate the MPRV and to carry out rescue and recovery operations.

Development of a Remote Handling System in an Integrated Pyroprocessing Facility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyo Jik Lee

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Over the course of a decade-long research programme, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI has developed several remote handling systems for use in pyroprocessing research facilities. These systems are now used successfully for the operation and maintenance of processing equipment. The most recent remote handling system is the bridge-transported dual arm servo-manipulator system (BDSM, which is used for remote operation at the world's largest pyroprocess integrated inactive demonstration facility (PRIDE. Accurate and reliable servo-control is the basic requirement for the BDSM to accomplish any given tasks successfully in a hotcell environment. To achieve this end, the hardware and software of a digital signal processor-based remote control system were fully custom-developed and implemented to control the BDSM. To reduce the residual vibration of the BDSM, several input profiles, including input shaping, were carefully chosen and evaluated. Furthermore, a time delay controller was employed to achieve good tracking performance and systematic gain tuning. The experimental results demonstrate that the applied control algorithms are more effective than conventional approaches. The BDSM successfully completed its performance tests at a mock-up and was installed at PRIDE for real-world operation. The remote handling system at KAERI is expected to advance the actualization of pyroprocessing.

A remotely operated robot for decontamination tasks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dudar, A.M.; Vandewalle, R.C.

1994-01-01

Engineers in the Robotics Development Group at the Westinghouse Savannah River Company (WSRC) have developed a robot which will be used to decontaminate a pipe gallery of a tank farm used for nuclear waste storage. Personnel access is required into this pipe gallery to inspect existing pipes and perform repairs to secondary containment walls around the tank farm. Presently, the pipe gallery is littered with debris of various sizes and its surface is contaminated with activity levels up to 2.5E6 DPM (disintegrations per minute) alpha and exposure levels as high as 20 Rad/hr. Cleaning up this pipe gallery win be the mission of an all-hydraulic robotic vehicle developed in-house at WSRC caged the ''Remote Decon'' robot. The Remote Decon is a tracked vehicle which utilizes skid steering and features a six-degree-of-freedom (DOF) manipulator arm, a five-DOF front end loader type bucket with a rotating brush for scrubbing and decontaminating surfaces, and a three-DOF pan/tilt mechanism with cameras and lights. The Remote Decon system is connected to a control console via a 200 foot tethered cable. The control console was designed with ergonomics and simplicity as the main design factors and features three joysticks, video monitors, LED panels, and audible alarms

Depth Perception In Remote Stereoscopic Viewing Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Diner, Daniel B.; Von Sydow, Marika

1989-01-01

Report describes theoretical and experimental studies of perception of depth by human operators through stereoscopic video systems. Purpose of such studies to optimize dual-camera configurations used to view workspaces of remote manipulators at distances of 1 to 3 m from cameras. According to analysis, static stereoscopic depth distortion decreased, without decreasing stereoscopitc depth resolution, by increasing camera-to-object and intercamera distances and camera focal length. Further predicts dynamic stereoscopic depth distortion reduced by rotating cameras around center of circle passing through point of convergence of viewing axes and first nodal points of two camera lenses.

Intraocular robotic interventional surgical system (IRISS): Mechanical design, evaluation, and master-slave manipulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Jason T; Gerber, Matthew J; Prince, Stephen W; Chen, Cheng-Wei; Schwartz, Steven D; Hubschman, Jean-Pierre; Tsao, Tsu-Chin

2018-02-01

Since the advent of robotic-assisted surgery, the value of using robotic systems to assist in surgical procedures has been repeatedly demonstrated. However, existing technologies are unable to perform complete, multi-step procedures from start to finish. Many intraocular surgical steps continue to be manually performed. An intraocular robotic interventional surgical system (IRISS) capable of performing various intraocular surgical procedures was designed, fabricated, and evaluated. Methods were developed to evaluate the performance of the remote centers of motion (RCMs) using a stereo-camera setup and to assess the accuracy and precision of positioning the tool tip using an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system. The IRISS can simultaneously manipulate multiple surgical instruments, change between mounted tools using an onboard tool-change mechanism, and visualize the otherwise invisible RCMs to facilitate alignment of the RCM to the surgical incision. The accuracy of positioning the tool tip was measured to be 0.205±0.003 mm. The IRISS was evaluated by trained surgeons in a remote surgical theatre using post-mortem pig eyes and shown to be effective in completing many key steps in a variety of intraocular surgical procedures as well as being capable of performing an entire cataract extraction from start to finish. The IRISS represents a necessary step towards fully automated intraocular surgery and demonstrated accurate and precise master-slave manipulation for cataract removal and-through visual feedback-retinal vein cannulation. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Head-coupled remote stereoscopic camera system for telepresence applications

Science.gov (United States)

Bolas, Mark T.; Fisher, Scott S.

1990-09-01

The Virtual Environment Workstation Project (VIEW) at NASA's Ames Research Center has developed a remotely controlled stereoscopic camera system that can be used for telepresence research and as a tool to develop and evaluate configurations for head-coupled visual systems associated with space station telerobots and remote manipulation robotic arms. The prototype camera system consists of two lightweight CCD video cameras mounted on a computer controlled platform that provides real-time pan, tilt, and roll control of the camera system in coordination with head position transmitted from the user. This paper provides an overall system description focused on the design and implementation of the camera and platform hardware configuration and the development of control software. Results of preliminary performance evaluations are reported with emphasis on engineering and mechanical design issues and discussion of related psychophysiological effects and objectives.

Rosie: remote work system for decontamination and dismantlement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bares, L.C.; Conley, L.S.; Thompson, B.R.

1996-01-01

The Rosie worksystem includes a locomotor, heavy manipulator,operator console, and control system for remote operations. The locomotor is a highly mobile platform with tether management and hydraulic power onboard. The heavy manipulator is a high-payload, long-reach boom used to deploy a wide variety of tools and/or sensors into the work area. Rosie's advanced control system, broad work capabibilites, and hardening/reliability for hazardous duty make it a new and unique capability that facilitates completion of significant cleanup projects throughout DOE and the private sector. Endurance testing of Rosie during last year has proven its capabilities and appropriateness for D ampersand D applications. Design enhancements are being implemented to improve and add features necessary for deployment at an upcoming DOE facility decommissioning. A second Rosie unit is being fabricated fro use in the decommissioning of ANL's CP-5 reactor facility starting late 1996. This paper overviews the Rosie system, testing results, design enhancements, and plans for use of this technology at CP-5

Manipulators in teleoperation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamel, W.R.

1985-01-01

Teleoperated manipulators represent a mature technology which has evolved over nearly 40 years of applications experience. The wide range of manipulator concepts developed thus far reflect differing applications, priorities, and philosophies. The technology of teleoperated manipulators is in a rapid state of change (just as are industrial robotics) fueled by microelectronics and materials advances. Large strides in performance and dexterity are now practical and advantageous. Even though improved controls and sensory feedback will increase functionality, overall costs should be reduced as manipulator fabrication and assembly labor costs are reduced through improved manufacturing technology. As these advances begin to materialize, broader applications in nonnuclear areas should occur

Remote Supervision and Control of Air Conditioning Systems in Different Modes

Science.gov (United States)

Rafeeq, Mohammed; Afzal, Asif; Rajendra, Sree

2018-01-01

In the era of automation, most of the application of engineering and science are interrelated with system for optimal operation. To get the efficient result of an operation and desired response, interconnected systems should be controlled by directing, regulating and commanding. Here, air conditioning (AC) system is considered for experimentation, to supervise and control its functioning in both, automated and manual mode. This paper reports the work intended to design and develop an automated and manual AC system working in remote and local mode, to increase the level of comfort, easy operation, reducing human intervention and faults occurring in the system. The Programmable Logical Controller (PLC) and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system were used for remote supervision and monitoring of AC systems using series ninety protocol and remote terminal unit modbus protocol as communication module to operate in remote mode. PLC was used as remote terminal for continuous supervision and control of AC system. SCADA software was used as a tool for designing user friendly graphical user interface. The proposed SCADA AC system successfully monitors and controls in accordance within the parameter limits like temperature, pressure, humidity and voltage. With all the features, this designed system is capable of efficient handling of the resources like the compressor, humidifier etc., with all the levels of safety and durability. This system also maintains the temperature and controls the humidity of the remote location and also looks after the health of the compressor.

Hot tests of the small portable arc saw using an electromechanical manipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deichelbohrer, P.R.

1985-01-01

A hand-held portable arc saw was demonstrated in 1982. Known as the Small Portable Arc Saw (SPARCS), it weighed less than 15-lb and could cut metal sheet up to 1/2-in thick. From the hand-held SPARCS, a manipulator-handled model was developed for use in decommissioning operations by Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL). During cold tests, the SPARCS, which was maneuvered with a mechanical, master-slave manipulator, cut 1-in thick stainless steel plate. The decommissioning method of PNL depended principally on a plasma cutting torch for size reduction. The SPARCS unit was installed in the cell to assist the plasma torch. At present, use of the SPARCS in this project has not been necessary, and it has not been operated in the cell. The plasma cutting torch is a widely used tool for size reduction; the torch can cut stainless steel and heavy material, is lightweight, and is easy to handle with manipulators. Some shortcomings, however, have been reported; for example, cutting pipe, laminates, or forms with hollow cross sections (e.g., unistrut) is sometimes cumbersome. The stand-off spacing required is another constraint. The torch tip must be spaced approximately 1/2-in from the work to achieve proper cutting action. During cutting, this spacing requires accurate control of the torch. The manipulator operator must have significant skill to achieve this control. Test results to date show that the arc saw's ability to cut heavy, hard, and inert metal compares favorably with the performance of the plasma torch. The arc saw offers the further advantages of cutting hollow cross-section forms without special procedures, and of cutting without stand-off spacing

Characteristics of manipulative in mathematics laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Istiandaru, A.; Istihapsari, V.; Prahmana, R. C. I.; Setyawan, F.; Hendroanto, A.

2017-12-01

A manipulative is a teaching aid designed such that students could understand mathematical concepts by manipulating it. This article aims to provide an insight to the characteristics of manipulatives produced in the mathematics laboratory of Universitas Ahmad Dahlan, Indonesia. A case study was conducted to observe the existing manipulatives produced during the latest three years and classified the manipulatives based on the characteristics found. There are four kinds of manipulatives: constructivism manipulative, virtual manipulative, informative manipulative, and game-based manipulative. Each kinds of manipulative has different characteristics and impact towards the mathematics learning.

Web Based System Architecture for Long Pulse Remote Experimentation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

De Las Heras, E.; Lastra, D. [INDRA Sistemas, S.A., Unidad de Sistemas de Control, Madrid (Spain); Vega, J.; Castro, R. [Association Euratom CIEMAT for Fusion, Madrid (Spain); Ruiz, M.; Barrera, E. [Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (Spain)

2009-07-01

INDRA is the first Information Technology company in Spain and it presents here, through a series of transparencies, its own approach for the remote experimentation architecture for long pulses (REAL). All the architecture is based on Java-2 platform standards and REAL is a totally open architecture. By itself REAL offers significant advantages: -) access authentication and authorization under multiple security implementations, -) local or remote network access: LAN, WAN, VPN..., -) on-line access to acquisition systems for monitoring and configuration, -) scalability, flexibility, robustness, platform independence,.... The BeansNet implementation of REAL gives additional good things such as: -) easy implementation, -) graphical tool for service composition and configuration, -) availability and hot-swap (no need of stopping or restarting services after update or remodeling, and -) INDRA support. The implementation of BeansNet at the TJ-2 stellarator at Ciemat is presented. This document is made of the presentation transparencies. (A.C.)

Bilateral control of master-slave manipulators for ideal kinesthetic coupling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yokokohji, Yasuyoshi; Yoshikawa, Tsuneo

1991-01-01

The way to control master-slave manipulators affects considerably to the maneuverability of the master-slave systems. The ideal state of master-slave systems can be regarded that the operator can operate the system as if he were directly manipulating the object which is actually existing at the remote site. In other saying, the system must be coupled with the operator to give the ideal kinesthetic sense so that he can perceive the object. So far, several researches discussed about the ideal states of master-slave systems in their own descriptions. However, there is few exact discussion about how close the ideal state can be achieved actually or what kind of control scheme should be designed in order to achieve it. In this paper, we propose a control scheme which can achieve the ideal kinesthetic coupling with the operator and realize three ideal responses which were previously defined by the authors. Secondly, we show the stability of the system controlled by the proposed scheme by using the concept of passivity. We then discuss about the system stability when the sensor signals are pass through the filters. Lastly, the validity of the proposed scheme is confirmed by simulations. (author)

Bilateral control of master-slave manipulators for ideal kinesthetic coupling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yokokohji, Yasuyoshi; Yoshikawa, Tsuneo (Kyoto Univ. (Japan). Faculty of Engineering)

1991-01-01

The way to control master-slave manipulators affects considerably to the maneuverability of the master-slave systems. The ideal state of master-slave systems can be regarded that the operator can operate the system as if he were directly manipulating the object which is actually existing at the remote site. In other saying, the system must be coupled with the operator to give the ideal kinesthetic sense so that he can perceive the object. So far, several researches discussed about the ideal states of master-slave systems in their own descriptions. However, there is few exact discussion about how close the ideal state can be achieved actually or what kind of control scheme should be designed in order to achieve it. In this paper, we propose a control scheme which can achieve the ideal kinesthetic coupling with the operator and realize three ideal responses which were previously defined by the authors. Secondly, we show the stability of the system controlled by the proposed scheme by using the concept of passivity. We then discuss about the system stability when the sensor signals are pass through the filters. Lastly, the validity of the proposed scheme is confirmed by simulations. (author).

Downhole water management and robotic valve manipulation on electric wireline

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schwanitz, Brian [Welltec, Alleroed (Denmark); Petersen, Erik; Farias, Eduardo [Welltec do Brasil Ltda., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2008-07-01

Due to high operating cost and challenging environments, the oil and gas industry is facing an increasing demand to identify areas where new intervention solutions can be applied. Down hole water management and robotic valve manipulation are some of the areas where new approaches are finding critical success. A new technology has enabled increased recovery rates by managing produced water and allowing remote mechanical manipulation of down hole valves on wireline. These services are possible when applying a robotic stroking device and a wireline key tool.This paper will examine the challenges and present case histories illustrating how advanced technological solutions were applied to overcome operational problem in order to enhance reservoir performance and well productivity. Specifically the paper will illustrate both how isolating sliding side door and setting bridge plug in high x-flow using wireline stroker and tractor technologies water cut were reduced from 85% to 5% and from 90% to 45% respectively and shifting isolation sleeve and open and close sliding sleeve replacing conventional methods with a solution that runs on electrical wireline meant a revolution within the oil and gas industry. (author)

Manipulators for production and research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Munro, Ian

1987-01-01

The development of caves or cells and master-slave manipulators to handle radioactive materials is discussed. Some of the most recent advances are described. A manipulator arm, a master-slave manipulator and a servomanipulator mounted on a manipulator are illustrated. Future developments are discussed - these include resolved tip control for the manipulator. (UK)

Development of remote replacement system for armor tiles of first wall of FER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adachi, Junichi; Yoshizawa, Shunji; Nakano, Yasuo; Kuboyama, Takashi; Shibanuma, Kiyoshi; Kakudate, Satoshi; Oka, Kiyoshi.

1993-01-01

A remote system has been developed to replace automatically armor tiles of first walls with a single manipulator arm for the Fusion Experimental Reactor (FER). The system is composed of a manipulator arm and an end-effector (a tile replacement hand), which have a gripper of the tiles, a nutrunner to rotate attatching bolts of them and a vision sensor to measure positions of them. The system can replace the tiles by means of a visual feedback system using vision sensor, even if the positions of the tiles would have changed. As a result of tests, it has been proved that the end-effector is useful and the control system is practicable. (author)

Analysis of operational possibilities and conditions of remote handling systems in nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hourfar, D.

1989-01-01

Accepting the development of the occupational radiation exposure in nuclear facilities, it will be showing possibilities of cost effective reduction of the dose rate through the application of robots and manipulators for the maintenance of nuclear power plants, fuel reprocessing plants, decommissioning and dismantling of the mentioned plants. Based on the experiences about industrial robot applications by manufacturing and manipulator applications by the handling of radioactive materials as well as analysis of the handling procedures and estimation of the dose intensity, it will be defining task-orientated requirements for the conceptual design of the remote handling systems. Furthermore the manifold applications of stationary and mobil arranged handling systems in temporary or permanent operation are described. (orig.) [de

Remote state preparation through hyperentangled atomic states

Science.gov (United States)

Nawaz, Mehwish; ul-Islam, Rameez-; Ikram, Manzoor

2018-04-01

Hyperentangled states have enhanced channel capacity in quantum processing and have yielded` evident increased communication speed in quantum informatics as a consequence of excessively high information content coded over each quantum entity. In the present article, we intend to demonstrate this fact by utilizing atomic states simultaneously entangled both in internal as well as external degrees of freedom, i.e. the de Broglie motion for remote state preparation (RSP). The results clearly demonstrate that we can efficiently communicate two bit information while manipulating only a single quantum subsystem. The states are prepared and manipulated using atomic Bragg diffraction as well as Ramsey interferometry, both of which are now considered as standard, state of the art tools based on cavity quantum electrodynamics. Since atomic Bragg diffraction is a large interaction time regime and produces spatially well separated, decoherence resistant outputs, the schematics presented here for the RSP offer important perspectives on efficient detection as well as unambiguous information coding and readout. The article summarizes the experimental feasibility of the proposal, culminating with a brief discussion.

Validation of Microcapillary Flow Cytometry for Community-Based CD4+ T Lymphocyte Enumeration in Remote Burkina Faso

Science.gov (United States)

Renault, Cybèle A; Traore, Arouna; Machekano, Rhoderick N; Israelski, Dennis M

2010-01-01

Background: CD4+ T lymphocyte enumeration plays a critical role in the initiation and monitoring of HIV-infected patients on antiretroviral therapy. There is an urgent need for low-cost CD4+ enumeration technologies, particularly for use in dry, dusty climates characteristic of many small cities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Blood samples from 98 HIV-infected patients followed in a community HIV clinic in Ouahigouya, Burkina Faso were obtained for routine CD4+ T lymphocyte count monitoring. The blood samples were divided into two aliquots, on which parallel CD4+ measurements were performed using microcapillary (Guava EasyCD4) and dedicated (Becton Dickinson FACSCount) CD4+ enumeration systems. Spearman rank correlation coefficient was calculated, and the sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value (PPV) for EasyCD4 <200 cells/µL were determined compared to the reference standard FACSCount CD4 <200 cells/µL. Results: Mean CD4 counts for the EasyCD4 and FACSCount were 313.75 cells/µL and 303.47 cells/µL, respectively. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient was 0.92 (p<0.001). Median values using EasyCD4 were higher than those with the FACSCount (p=0.004). For a CD4<350 cells/uL, sensitivity of the EasyCD4 was 93.9% (95%CI 85.2-98.3%), specificity was 90.6% (95% CI 75.0-98.0%), and PPV was 95.4% (95%CI 87.1-99.0%). Conclusion: Use of the EasyCD4 system was feasible and highly accurate in the harsh conditions of this remote city in Sub-Saharan Africa, demonstrating acceptable sensitivity and specificity compared to a standard operating system. Microcapillary flow cytometry offers a cost-effective alternative for community-based, point-of-care CD4+ testing and could play a substantial role in scaling up HIV care in remote, resource-limited settings. PMID:21253463

MEMS 6 degrees of freedom parallel micro manipulator for TEM sample manipulation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brouwer, Dannis Michel; de Jong, B.R.; Soemers, Herman

2005-01-01

Up till now MEMS actuators acted either only in-plane or only out-of plane restricting to 3 DOF manipulation. A design for a millimeter-sized manipulator with 6 degrees of freedom to manipulate a micron-sized substrate at nanometer resolution over strokes of 10 microns with a position stability

The photoelectric effect and study of the diffraction of light: Two new experiments in UNILabs virtual and remote laboratories network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sánchez, Juan Pedro; Carreras, Carmen; Yuste, Manuel; Dormido, Sebastián; Sáenz, Jacobo; De la Torre, Luis; Rubén, Heradio

2015-01-01

This work describes two experiments: 'study of the diffraction of light: Fraunhofer approximation' and 'the photoelectric effect'. Both of them count with a virtual, simulated, version of the experiment as well as with a real one which can be operated remotely. The two previous virtual and remote labs (built using Easy Java(script) Simulations) are integrated in UNILabs, a network of online interactive laboratories based on the free Learning Management System Moodle. In this web environment, students can find not only the virtual and remote labs but also manuals with related theory, the user interface description for each application, and so on.

Design of sealing arrangements for development of leak tight articulated manipulator for waste management and reprocessing plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patil, Satish B.; Mudaiya, Avinash K.

2016-01-01

As a part of development of Remote handling equipment and gadgets, Leak tight Articulated Manipulator (ARTM) has been developed for shielded facilities of Nuclear Recycle Plant. The ARTM is a Master Slave Manipulator having 8 Kg Payload capacity and most suitable for shielded sampling cubicles of Waste Management plants and dilution hot cells of Reprocessing plants. All the motions and forces are transmitted from Master to slave arm through the mechanical linkages, which are housed inside the wall tube. The mechanical linkages and wall tube run across the shielded wall. The applications involving seal tightness of the glove boxes and dilution hot cells intend to use all the accessories including MSMs to be leak tight. During the design of leak tight ARTM, all the potential leak paths through the components of existing ARTM were examined critically and static and dynamic seals were designed based on the geometry and requirement of particular leak path. A leak proof testing set up was fabricated for evaluating the leak rates across the manipulator contemplating the actual operating conditions. The manipulator was subjected to the Friction, Rigidity and Leak tests. The results of the tests are satisfactory and as per the International standards available. The leak rates measured for different manipulators were in the range of 0.05 to 0.1 % of air volume/hr @ 200 mm of water columndifferential negative pressure. (author)

Conceptual design report for a Fusion Engineering Device sector-handling machine and movable manipulator system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watts, K.D.; Masson, L.S.; McPherson, R.S.

1982-10-01

Design requirements, trade studies, design descriptions, conceptual designs, and cost estimates have been completed for the Fusion Engineering Device sector handling machine, movable manipulator system, subcomponent handling machine, and limiter blade handling machine. This information will be used by the Fusion Engineering Design Center to begin to determine the cost and magnitude of the effort required to perform remote maintenance on the Fusion Engineering Device. The designs presented are by no means optimum, and the costs estimates are rough-order-of-magnitude

Overview of remote handling technologies developed for inspection and maintenance of spent fuel management facilities in France

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Desbats, Philippe [CEA - Direction de la Recherche Technologique / LIST, BP 6 - 92265, Fontenay-aux-Roses cedex (France); Piolain, Gerard [COGEMA-HAG/DMCO, AREVA NC SA, 2, rue Paul Dautier, BP 4, 78 141 Velizy Cedex (France)

2006-07-01

In the facilities of the end of the nuclear fuel cycle, like spent fuel storage pools, reprocessing plants, Plutonium-based fuel manufacturing plants or waste temporary storage units, materials handling must be carried out remotely, taking into account the nuclear radiating environment. In addition to the automation requirement, robotics equipment in the nuclear industry must be substituted to human operators in order to respect the ALARA principle. More over, remote handling technologies aim to improve the working conditions, as well as the quality of the work achieved by the operators. Ten years ago, COGEMA (AREVA Group) and CEA (French Atomic Energy Agency) started an ambitious R and D program in robotics and remote handling technologies applied to COGEMA spent fuel management facilities in France, with the aim to cover the requirements of the different plant life cycle steps. The paper gives an overview of the important developments that have been carried out by CEA and then transferred to the COGEMA industrial group. The range includes the next generation of servo-manipulators, long range inspection tools and carriers, nuclear versions of industrial robots, radiation hardened electronic systems, interactive environment modeling tools, as well as force-feedback master-slave generic control software for tele-operation systems. Some applications of this development are presented in the paper: - rad-hard electronic modules for robotic equipment which are used by COGEMA in high radiating environment; - long reach articulated carrier for inspection of spent full management blind cells; - new electrical force feedback master/slave system to improve the tele-operation of standard tele-manipulators; - generic control software for tele-manipulators. The results of the robotic program carried out by COGEMA and CEA have been very valuable for the introduction of new technologies inside nuclear industry. Innovative products and sub-systems can be integrated now in a large

The activation system Easy 2007

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forrest, R.A.; Kopecky, J.

2007-01-01

Full text of publication follows: Safety and waste management of materials for ITER, IFMIF and future power plants require detailed knowledge of the activation caused by irradiation with neutrons, or in the case of IFMIF, deuterons. The European Activation System (EASY) has been developed for such calculations and a new version (EASY-2007) was released earlier this year. This contains a large amount of nuclear data in the European Activation File (EAF-2007) covering neutron-, deuteron- and proton-induced cross sections (about 200,000 reactions have data extending up to 60 MeV), decay data (2,231 nuclides) and subsidiary data on e.g. biological hazards. These data are input to the FISPACT inventory code used to calculate the activation. Recent work has concentrated on the validation of EASY-2007 using integral and differential measurements; these studies are summarised showing examples of reactions agreeing with the experimental results and cases where the library data require further improvement. Integral data above 20 MeV are especially important in improving the library for IFMIF calculations. Using a previous version of EASY a study of the activation of all the elements enabled the identification of the reactions important in producing activation below 20 MeV. The list of 1,340 neutron-reactions producing the dominant radio-nuclides enables further studies to be focused on the important data. This study made extensive use of importance diagrams. This work has been extended to cover the energy region up to 60 MeV, and the new important radionuclides and reactions in this energy range are reported. Although the data above 20 MeV are important for IFMIF and are of interest because of their novelty, the traditional energy region below 20 MeV remains of great importance for most fusion applications. The testing of such large data libraries for reactions with no experimental data is necessary and results from the use of the recently developed method of Statistical

Hydraulic manipulator research at ORNL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kress, R.L.; Jansen, J.F.; Love, L.J.

1997-01-01

Recently, task requirements have dictated that manipulator payload capacity increase to accommodate greater payloads, greater manipulator length, and larger environmental interaction forces. General tasks such as waste storage tank cleanup and facility dismantlement and decommissioning require manipulator life capacities in the range of hundreds of pounds rather than tens of pounds. To meet the increased payload capacities demanded by present-day tasks, manipulator designers have turned once again to hydraulics as a means of actuation. In order to successfully design, build, and deploy a new hydraulic manipulator (or subsystem), sophisticated modeling, analysis, and control experiments are usually needed. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has a history of projects that incorporate hydraulics technology, including mobile robots, teleoperated manipulators, and full-scale construction equipment. In addition, to support the development and deployment of new hydraulic manipulators, ORNL has outfitted a significant experimental laboratory and has developed the software capability for research into hydraulic manipulators, hydraulic actuators, hydraulic systems, modeling of hydraulic systems, and hydraulic controls. The purpose of this article is to describe the past hydraulic manipulator developments and current hydraulic manipulator research capabilities at ORNL. Included are example experimental results from ORNL's flexible/prismatic test stand

Hydraulic manipulator research at ORNL

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kress, R.L.; Jansen, J.F. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States); Love, L.J. [Oak Ridge Inst. for Science and Education, TN (United States)

1997-03-01

Recently, task requirements have dictated that manipulator payload capacity increase to accommodate greater payloads, greater manipulator length, and larger environmental interaction forces. General tasks such as waste storage tank cleanup and facility dismantlement and decommissioning require manipulator life capacities in the range of hundreds of pounds rather than tens of pounds. To meet the increased payload capacities demanded by present-day tasks, manipulator designers have turned once again to hydraulics as a means of actuation. In order to successfully design, build, and deploy a new hydraulic manipulator (or subsystem), sophisticated modeling, analysis, and control experiments are usually needed. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has a history of projects that incorporate hydraulics technology, including mobile robots, teleoperated manipulators, and full-scale construction equipment. In addition, to support the development and deployment of new hydraulic manipulators, ORNL has outfitted a significant experimental laboratory and has developed the software capability for research into hydraulic manipulators, hydraulic actuators, hydraulic systems, modeling of hydraulic systems, and hydraulic controls. The purpose of this article is to describe the past hydraulic manipulator developments and current hydraulic manipulator research capabilities at ORNL. Included are example experimental results from ORNL`s flexible/prismatic test stand.

Study on compact design of remote handling equipment for ITER blanket maintenance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeda, Nobukazu; Kakudate, Satoshi; Nakahira, Masataka; Shibanuma, Kiyoshi

2006-03-01

In the ITER, the neutrons created by D-T reactions activate structural materials, and thereby, the circumstance in the vacuum vessel is under intense gamma radiation field. Thus, the in-vessel components such as blanket are handled and replaced by remote handling equipment. The objective of this report is to study the compactness of the remote handling equipment (a vehicle/manipulator) for the ITER blanket maintenance. In order to avoid the interferences between the blanket and the equipment during blanket replacement in the restricted vacuum vessel, a compact design of the equipment is required. Therefore, the compact design is performed, including kinematic analyses aiming at the reduction of the sizes of the vehicle equipped with a manipulator handling the blanket and the rail for the vehicle traveling in the vacuum vessel. Major results are as follows: 1. The compact vehicle/manipulator is designed concentration on the reduction of the rail size and simplification of the guide roller mechanism as well as the reduction of the gear diameter for vehicle rotation around the rail. Height of the rail is reduced from 500 mm to 400 mm by a parameter survey for weight, stiffness and stress of the rail. The roller mechanism is divided into two simple functional mechanisms composed of rollers and a pad, that is, the rollers support relatively light loads during rail deployment and vehicle traveling while a pad supports heavy loads during blanket replacement. Regarding the rotation mechanism, the double helical gear is adopted, because it has higher contact ratio than the normal spur gear and consequently can transfer higher force. The smaller double helical gear, 996 mm in diameter, can achieve 26% higher output torque, 123.5 kN·m, than that of the original spur gear of 1,460 mm in diameter, 98 kN·m. As a result, the manipulator becomes about 30% lighter, 8 tons, than the original weight, 11.2 tons. 2. Based on the compact design of the vehicle/manipulator, the

Towards an easy access to Annexin-A5 protein binding block copolymer micelles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmidt, Vanessa; Giacomelli, Cristiano; Brisson, Alain R.; Borsali, Redouane

2008-01-01

The formation of Annexin-A5 decorated (bio-functionalized) nanoparticles is of particular interest in micelle-mediated target drug delivery, in vivo magnetic resonance imaging, and controlled fabrication of biochips. This work describes an easy access to the synthesis and manipulation of block copolymer nano-objects exhibiting Annexin-A5 protein binding ability. Well-defined spherical micelles containing negatively charged phosphonic diacid groups - which are potential binding sites for Annexin-A5 proteins - at their hydrophilic periphery originate from the self-assembly of polystyrene-b-poly(2-phosphatethyl methacrylate-stat-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PS-b-P(PEMA-stat-HEMA)) amphiphilic macromolecules in aqueous media. PS-b-P(PEMA-stat-HEMA) can be prepared in a three-step phosphorylation/silylation/methanolysis procedure applied to PS-b-PHEMA precursors synthesized via Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ATRP). The herein discussed approach allows precise control over micellar dimensions and properties such as core radius (i.e., loading capacity), corona width, and density of phosphate groups at the micelle periphery

An Easy-to-Use Airborne LiDAR Data Filtering Method Based on Cloth Simulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wuming Zhang

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Separating point clouds into ground and non-ground measurements is an essential step to generate digital terrain models (DTMs from airborne LiDAR (light detection and ranging data. However, most filtering algorithms need to carefully set up a number of complicated parameters to achieve high accuracy. In this paper, we present a new filtering method which only needs a few easy-to-set integer and Boolean parameters. Within the proposed approach, a LiDAR point cloud is inverted, and then a rigid cloth is used to cover the inverted surface. By analyzing the interactions between the cloth nodes and the corresponding LiDAR points, the locations of the cloth nodes can be determined to generate an approximation of the ground surface. Finally, the ground points can be extracted from the LiDAR point cloud by comparing the original LiDAR points and the generated surface. Benchmark datasets provided by ISPRS (International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing working Group III/3 are used to validate the proposed filtering method, and the experimental results yield an average total error of 4.58%, which is comparable with most of the state-of-the-art filtering algorithms. The proposed easy-to-use filtering method may help the users without much experience to use LiDAR data and related technology in their own applications more easily.

Remote calibration of torque wrenches in a hostile environment

Science.gov (United States)

Griffin, D. M.

1982-03-01

A relatively simple device is described which provides the capability for remote comparison of torque wrenches over a limited range. The device, properly used, provides calibration capability for most inch pound and foot pound range torque wrenches. For purposes of this discussion, the device itself was developed specifically for adapting an existing torque measuring system with torque wrenches in hostile environment. A gloved access port is utilized to manipulate the fixture while a viewing window and mirror are used to make visual comparisons. Click type wrenches do not require use of the mirror.

STARFIRE remote maintenance and reactor facility concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Graumann, D.W.; Field, R.E.; Lutz, G.R.; Trachsel, C.A.

1981-01-01

A total remote maintenance facility has been designed for all equipment located within the reactor building and hot cell, although operational flexibility has been provided by design of the reactor shielding such that personnel access into the reactor building within 24 hours after reactor shutdown is possible. The reactor design permits removal and replacement of all components if necessary, however, the vacuum pumps, isolation valves and blanket require scheduled, routine maintenance. Reactor scheduled maintenance does not dominate annual plant downtime, therefore, several scheduled operations can be added without affecting reactor availability. The maintenance facilities consist of the reactor building, the hot cell, the reactor service area and the remote maintenance control room. The reactor building contains the reactor, selected support system modules, and required maintenance equipment. The reactor and the support systems are maintained with (1) equipment that is mounted on a monorail system; (2) overhead cranes; and (3) bridge-mounted electromechanical manipulators. The hot cell is located outside of the reactor building to localize contamination products and permit independent operation. An equipment air lock connects the reactor building to the hot cell

A fiber optic link for the remote handling in nuclear environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Breuze, G.; Carnet, B.; Friant, A.; Blanc, F.; Lordet, J.; Boisde, G.

1988-01-01

At CEA a R/D program is running to improve performances of servomanipulators used in nuclear fuel reprocessing plants. Present work gives the main environmental parameters (gamma rays exposition, temperature) and shows the basis of the digital link designed to remote-handle such a manipulator. Up to 10 5 Gy behavior of optical fibers and electronic components was studied. Two different optical cables were built, one for the long link (100 m), the second to set in an especially designed winding unwinding wheel. Six way permanent or remote-handle connectors were developed to connect optical interfaces and a leaktight penetration. Measured budget of the link taking into account efficient photoblesching of the pure silica core fiber and influence of gamma rays on the slave interface is presented [fr

Remote sensing to monitor uranium tailing sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-02-01

This report concerns the feasibility of using remotely-sensed data for long-term monitoring of uranium tailings. Decommissioning of uranium mine tailings sites may require long-term monitoring to confirm that no unanticipated release of contaminants occurs. Traditional ground-based monitoring of specific criteria of concern would be a significant expense depending on the nature and frequency of the monitoring. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether available remote-sensing data and techniques were applicable to the long-term monitoring of tailings sites. This objective was met by evaluating to what extent the data and techniques could be used to identify and discriminate information useful for monitoring tailings sites. The cost associated with obtaining and interpreting this information was also evaluated. Satellite and aircraft remote-sensing-based activities were evaluated. A monitoring programme based on annual coverage of Landsat Thematic Mapper data is recommended. Immediately prior to and for several years after decommissioning of the tailings sites, airborne multispectral and thermal infrared surveys combined with field verification data are required in order to establish a baseline for the long-term satellite-based monitoring programme. More frequent airborne surveys may be required if rapidly changing phenomena require monitoring. The use of a geographic information system is recommended for the effective storage and manipulation of data accumulated over a number of years

Remote observing with NASA's Deep Space Network

Science.gov (United States)

Kuiper, T. B. H.; Majid, W. A.; Martinez, S.; Garcia-Miro, C.; Rizzo, J. R.

2012-09-01

The Deep Space Network (DSN) communicates with spacecraft as far away as the boundary between the Solar System and the interstellar medium. To make this possible, large sensitive antennas at Canberra, Australia, Goldstone, California, and Madrid, Spain, provide for constant communication with interplanetary missions. We describe the procedures for radioastronomical observations using this network. Remote access to science monitor and control computers by authorized observers is provided by two-factor authentication through a gateway at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena. To make such observations practical, we have devised schemes based on SSH tunnels and distributed computing. At the very minimum, one can use SSH tunnels and VNC (Virtual Network Computing, a remote desktop software suite) to control the science hosts within the DSN Flight Operations network. In this way we have controlled up to three telescopes simultaneously. However, X-window updates can be slow and there are issues involving incompatible screen sizes and multi-screen displays. Consequently, we are now developing SSH tunnel-based schemes in which instrument control and monitoring, and intense data processing, are done on-site by the remote DSN hosts while data manipulation and graphical display are done at the observer's host. We describe our approaches to various challenges, our experience with what worked well and lessons learned, and directions for future development.

CircleBoard-Pro: Concrete manipulative-based learning cycle unit for learning geometry

Science.gov (United States)

Jamhari, Wongkia, Wararat

2018-01-01

Currently, a manipulative is commonly used in mathematics education as a supported tool for teaching and learning. With engaging natural interaction of a concrete manipulative and advantages of a learning cycle approach, we proposed the concrete manipulative-based learning cycle unit to promote mathematics learning. Our main objectives are to observe possibilities on the use of a concrete manipulative in learning geometry, and to assess students' understanding of a specific topic, angle properties in a circle, of secondary level students. To meet the first objective, the concrete manipulative, called CricleBoard-Pro, was designed. CircleBoard-Pro is built for easy to writing on or deleting from, accurate angle measurement, and flexible movement. Besides, learning activities and worksheets were created for helping students to learn angle properties in a circle. Twenty eighth graders on a lower secondary school in Indonesia were voluntarily involved to learn mathematics using CircleBoard-Pro with the designed learning activities and worksheets. We informally observed students' performance by focusing on criteria of using manipulative tools in learning mathematics while the learning activities were also observed in terms of whether they work and which step of activities need to be improved. The results of this part showed that CircleBoard-Pro complied the criteria of the use of the manipulative in learning mathematics. Nevertheless, parts of learning activities and worksheets need to be improved. Based on the results of the observation, CircleBoard-Pro, learning activities, and worksheets were merged together and became the CircleBoardPro embedded on 5E (Engage - Explore - Explain - Elaborate - Evaluate) learning cycle unit. Then, students understanding were assessed to reach the second objective. Six ninth graders from an Indonesian school in Thailand were recruited to participate in this study. Conceptual tests for both pre-and post-test, and semi

Performance evaluation of the Personal Mobility and Manipulation Appliance (PerMMA).

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hongwu; Xu, Jijie; Grindle, Garrett; Vazquez, Juan; Salatin, Ben; Kelleher, Annmarie; Ding, Dan; Collins, Diane M; Cooper, Rory A

2013-11-01

The Personal Mobility and Manipulation Appliance (PerMMA) is a recently developed personal assistance robot created to provide people with severe physical disabilities enhanced assistance in both mobility and manipulation. PerMMA aims to improve functional independence when a personal care attendant is not available on site. PerMMA integrates both a smart powered wheelchair and two dexterous robotic arms to assist its users in completing essential mobility and manipulation tasks during basic and instrumental activities of daily living (ADL). Two user interfaces were developed: a local control interface and a remote operator controller. This paper reports on the evaluation of PerMMA with end users completing basic ADL tasks. Participants with both lower and upper extremity impairments (N=15) were recruited to operate PerMMA and complete up to five ADL tasks in a single session of no more than two hours (to avoid fatigue or frustration of the participants). The performance of PerMMA was evaluated by participants completing ADL tasks with two different control modes: local mode and cooperative control. The users' task completion performance and answers on pre/post-evaluation questionnaires demonstrated not only the ease in learning and usefulness of PerMMA, but also their attitudes toward assistance from advanced technology like PerMMA. As a part of the iterative development process, results of this work will serve as supporting evidence to identify design criteria and other areas for improvement of PerMMA. Copyright © 2013 IPEM. All rights reserved.

A kinematic analysis of the Space Station remote manipulator system (SSRMS)

Science.gov (United States)

Crane, Carl D., III; Duffy, Joseph; Carnahan, Tim

1991-01-01

An efficient reverse analysis of three 6-degree-of-freedom (dof) subchains of the 7-dof SSRMS is presented. The first subchain is formed by locking the seventh joint. The second subchain is formed by locking the second joint, while the third subchain is formed by locking the first joint (the grounded joint is counted as the first joint in the chain). There are a maximum of eight different arm configurations in each of the three subchains, and these were determined by employing a computer-efficient algorithm, which required the rooting of only at most quadratic polynomials. The algorithms were implemented, and the SSRMS was employed in an animated environment to perform and practice a number of useful tasks for Space Station servicing. The locking of the second joint has the advantage in that an operator can choose the orientation of the plane that contains the two longest links so as to avoid collisions with obstacles. However, it has the disadvantage that when the second joint angle equals 0 deg or 180 deg, the manipulator is in a singularity configuration. This plane can also be oriented by specifying the first joint angle, so that the plane can be oriented arbitrarily and, in this, the singularity is avoided.

Calibrating EASY-Care independence scale to improve accuracy

Science.gov (United States)

Jotheeswaran, A. T.; Dias, Amit; Philp, Ian; Patel, Vikram; Prince, Martin

2016-01-01

Background there is currently limited support for the reliability and validity of the EASY-Care independence scale, with little work carried out in low- or middle-income countries. Therefore, we assessed the internal construct validity and hierarchical and classical scaling properties among frail dependent older people in the community. Objective we assessed the internal construct validity and hierarchical and classical scaling properties among frail dependent older people in the community. Methods three primary care physicians administered EASY-Care comprehensive geriatric assessment for 150 frail and/or dependent older people in the primary care setting. A Mokken model was applied to investigate hierarchical scaling properties of EASY-Care independence scale, and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) of the scale was also examined. Results we found that EASY-Care independence scale is highly internally consistent and is a strong hierarchical scale, hence providing strong evidence for unidimensionality. However, two items in the scale (unable to use telephone and manage finances) had much lower item Loevinger H coefficients than others. Exclusion of these two items improved the overall internal consistency of the scale. Conclusions the strong performance of the EASY-Care independence scale among community-dwelling frail older people is encouraging. This study confirms that EASY-Care independence scale is highly internally consistent and a strong hierarchical scale. PMID:27496925

Analysis of Parallelogram Mechanism used to Preserve Remote Center of Motion for Surgical Telemanipulator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trochimczuk R.

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an analysis of a parallelogram mechanism commonly used to provide a kinematic remote center of motion in surgical telemanipulators. Selected types of parallel manipulator designs, encountered in commercial and laboratory-made designs described in the medical robotics literature, will serve as the research material. Among other things, computer simulations in the ANSYS 13.0 CAD/CAE software environment, employing the finite element method, will be used. The kinematics of the solution of manipulator with the parallelogram mechanism will be determined in order to provide a more complete description. These results will form the basis for the decision regarding the possibility of applying a parallelogram mechanism in an original prototype of a telemanipulator arm.

Development of the maintenance process by the servo manipulator for the parts of the equipment outside the MSM's workspace in a hot cell

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, J. Y.; Kim, S. H.; Song, D. K.; Park, B. S.; Yun, G. S.

2003-01-01

In this study, the maintenance process by the servo manipulator for the parts of the equipment that cannot be reached by MSM in the hot cell was developed. To do this, the virtual mock up is implemented using virtual prototyping technology. And, Using this mock-up, the workspace of the manipulators in the hot cell and the operator's view through the wall-mounted lead glass are analyzed. And the path planning of the servo manipulator using the collision detection of the virtual mockup is established. Also, the maintenance process for the parts of the equipment that are located out area of the MSM's workspace by the servo manipulator is proposed and verified through the graphic simulation. The proposed remote maintenance process of the equipment can be effectively used in the real hot cell operation. Also, the implemented virtual mock-up of the hot cell can be effecively used in analyzing the various hot cell operation and in enhancing the reliability and safety of the spent fuel manaement

[Remote results of high myopia surgical correction by tunnel keratoplasty ].

Science.gov (United States)

Dushin, N V; Beliaev, V S; Gonchar, P A; Barashkov, V I; Kravchinina, V V; Frolov, M A

2000-01-01

Remote results evidence high refraction efficiency of tunnel keratoplasty, stable results being observed for up to 15 years. A total of 104 operations (58 patients) were analyzed for a period of observation of more than 10 years. The patients' ages varied from 17 to 52 years, there were 34 women and 24 men. The main advantage of interlamellar refraction meridional keratoplasty is easiness of operation. At present it is the operation of choice for dosed reduction of eye refraction aimed at correction of high myopia and astigmatism. The possibility of correcting residual myopia after keratotomy and repair of refraction abnormalities resultant from perforating keratoplasty is particularly interesting. The possibility of regulating the corrective effect in remote periods by replacing the implants also deserves attention. Hence, low traumatism, high efficiency, and stability of the refraction effect once more confirm our recommendation to use tunnel keratoplasty in clinical practice.

MAESTRO, a hydraulic manipulator for maintenance and decommissioning applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olivier David; Yvan Measson; Catherine Bidard; Christine Libersa

2006-01-01

Compared to electric technology payload of hydraulic manipulators is very high with respect to their volume and mass. However, due to their force control limitations they were usually disqualified for precise manipulation. CEA, in collaboration with CYBERNETIX developed a complete remote handling system around the advanced hydraulic robotic arm MAESTRO. Requirements and specifications of the system were defined according to the needs of decommissioning activities in existing nuclear facilities and maintenance scenarios of the next step fusion reactor ITER. Using TAO2000 CEA controller, CEA developed specific force control loops to improve the performances of the manipulator and reach a level where the MAESTRO can be used like a traditional tele-operation master/slave system with force feedback. The complete system is composed of a 2 m long 100 kg payload 6 degrees of freedom slave hydraulic manipulator. The manipulator is mounted on an embedded unit made of a 210 bars hydraulic power pack and a 10 kGy rad hardened slave controller. The master station is made of the new generation Virtuose V6D-40-40 master arm with its TAO2000 controller. The graphical supervisor Magritte gives the operator an additional interface to manage and monitor the system. Repetitive tasks like tool picking can therefore be left to the system while the operator keeps his concentration on the main task. Thanks to the collision detection algorithm, Magritte warns the operator when the tool or any part of the Maestro arm comes too close to a delicate unit. Operational experience gained through test campaigns was gathered in an upgrade study to propose a new version of the manipulator that successfully ran through a 1000 hour endurance test. Rad-hardened components were selected and tested in nuclear facilities. Attention was paid to provide a design in which contamination is easily removed and to ease the maintenance when performed by an operator in suit. To be quickly adapted to new tasks, the

Potential applications of advanced remote handling and maintenance technology to future waste handling facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kring, C.T.; Herndon, J.N.; Meacham, S.A.

1987-01-01

The Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program (CFRP) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been advancing the technology in remote handling and remote maintenance of in-cell systems planned for future US nuclear fuel reprocessing plants. Much of the experience and technology developed over the past decade in this endeavor are directly applicable to the in-cell systems being considered for the facilities of the Federal Waste Management System (FWMS). The ORNL developments are based on the application of teleoperated force-reflecting servomanipulators controlled by an operator completely removed from the hazardous environment. These developments address the nonrepetitive nature of remote maintenance in the unstructured environments encountered in a waste handling facility. Employing technological advancements in dexterous manipulators, as well as basic design guidelines that have been developed for remotely maintained equipment and processes, can increase operation and maintenance system capabilities, thereby allowing the attainment of two Federal Waste Management System major objectives: decreasing plant personnel radiation exposure and increasing plant availability by decreasing the mean-time-to-repair in-cell maintenance and process equipment

Potential applications of advanced remote handling and maintenance technology to future waste handling facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kring, C.T.; Herndon, J.N.; Meacham, S.A.

1987-01-01

The Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program (CFRP) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been advancing the technology in remote handling and remote maintenance of in-cell systems planned for future U.S. nuclear fuel reprocessing plants. Much of the experience and technology developed over the past decade in this endeavor are directly applicable to the in-cell systems being considered for the facilities of the Federal Waste Management System (FWMS). The ORNL developments are based on the application of teleoperated force-reflecting servomanipulators controlled by an operator completely removed from the hazardous environment. These developments address the nonrepetitive nature of remote maintenance in the unstructured environments encountered in a waste handling facility. Employing technological advancements in dexterous manipulators, as well as basic design guidelines that have been developed for remotely maintained equipment and processes, can increase operation and maintenance system capabilities, thereby allowing the attainment of two Federal Waste Management System major objectives: decreasing plant personnel radiation exposure and increasing plant availability by decreasing the mean-time-to-repair in-cell maintenance and process equipment

Novel Networked Remote Laboratory Architecture for Open Connectivity Based on PLC-OPC-LabVIEW-EJS Integration. Application in Remote Fuzzy Control and Sensors Data Acquisition.

Science.gov (United States)

González, Isaías; Calderón, Antonio José; Mejías, Andrés; Andújar, José Manuel

2016-10-31

In this paper the design and implementation of a network for integrating Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), the Object-Linking and Embedding for Process Control protocol (OPC) and the open-source Easy Java Simulations (EJS) package is presented. A LabVIEW interface and the Java-Internet-LabVIEW (JIL) server complete the scheme for data exchange. This configuration allows the user to remotely interact with the PLC. Such integration can be considered a novelty in scientific literature for remote control and sensor data acquisition of industrial plants. An experimental application devoted to remote laboratories is developed to demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of the proposed approach. The experiment to be conducted is the parameterization and supervision of a fuzzy controller of a DC servomotor. The graphical user interface has been developed with EJS and the fuzzy control is carried out by our own PLC. In fact, the distinctive features of the proposed novel network application are the integration of the OPC protocol to share information with the PLC and the application under control. The user can perform the tuning of the controller parameters online and observe in real time the effect on the servomotor behavior. The target group is engineering remote users, specifically in control- and automation-related tasks. The proposed architecture system is described and experimental results are presented.

Novel Networked Remote Laboratory Architecture for Open Connectivity Based on PLC-OPC-LabVIEW-EJS Integration. Application in Remote Fuzzy Control and Sensors Data Acquisition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Isaías González

2016-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper the design and implementation of a network for integrating Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC, the Object-Linking and Embedding for Process Control protocol (OPC and the open-source Easy Java Simulations (EJS package is presented. A LabVIEW interface and the Java-Internet-LabVIEW (JIL server complete the scheme for data exchange. This configuration allows the user to remotely interact with the PLC. Such integration can be considered a novelty in scientific literature for remote control and sensor data acquisition of industrial plants. An experimental application devoted to remote laboratories is developed to demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of the proposed approach. The experiment to be conducted is the parameterization and supervision of a fuzzy controller of a DC servomotor. The graphical user interface has been developed with EJS and the fuzzy control is carried out by our own PLC. In fact, the distinctive features of the proposed novel network application are the integration of the OPC protocol to share information with the PLC and the application under control. The user can perform the tuning of the controller parameters online and observe in real time the effect on the servomotor behavior. The target group is engineering remote users, specifically in control- and automation-related tasks. The proposed architecture system is described and experimental results are presented.

Novel Networked Remote Laboratory Architecture for Open Connectivity Based on PLC-OPC-LabVIEW-EJS Integration. Application in Remote Fuzzy Control and Sensors Data Acquisition

Science.gov (United States)

González, Isaías; Calderón, Antonio José; Mejías, Andrés; Andújar, José Manuel

2016-01-01

In this paper the design and implementation of a network for integrating Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), the Object-Linking and Embedding for Process Control protocol (OPC) and the open-source Easy Java Simulations (EJS) package is presented. A LabVIEW interface and the Java-Internet-LabVIEW (JIL) server complete the scheme for data exchange. This configuration allows the user to remotely interact with the PLC. Such integration can be considered a novelty in scientific literature for remote control and sensor data acquisition of industrial plants. An experimental application devoted to remote laboratories is developed to demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of the proposed approach. The experiment to be conducted is the parameterization and supervision of a fuzzy controller of a DC servomotor. The graphical user interface has been developed with EJS and the fuzzy control is carried out by our own PLC. In fact, the distinctive features of the proposed novel network application are the integration of the OPC protocol to share information with the PLC and the application under control. The user can perform the tuning of the controller parameters online and observe in real time the effect on the servomotor behavior. The target group is engineering remote users, specifically in control- and automation-related tasks. The proposed architecture system is described and experimental results are presented. PMID:27809229

In situ manipulation and characterizations using nanomanipulators inside a field emission-scanning electron microscope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Keun Soo; Lim, Seong Chu; Lee, Im Bok; An, Key Heyok; Bae, Dong Jae; Choi, Shinje; Yoo, Jae-Eun; Lee, Young Hee

2003-01-01

We have used two piezoelectric nanomanipulators to manage the multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) within the field emission-scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). For an easy access of a tungsten tip to MWCNTs, we prepared the tungsten tip in sharp and long tip geometry using different electrochemical etching parameters. In addition, the sample stage was tilted by 45 deg. from the normal direction of the surface to allow a better incident angle to the approaching tungsten tip. For manipulations, a nanotube or the bundles were attached at the tungsten tip using an electron beam-induced deposition (EBID). Using two manipulators, we have then fabricated a CNT-based transistor, a cross-junction of MWCNTs, and a CNT-attached atomic force microscopy tip. After these fabrications, the field emission properties of the MWCNT and junction properties of the MWCNT and the tungsten tip have been investigated. We found that the EBID approach was very useful to weld the nanostructured materials on the tungsten tip by simply irradiating the electron beam, although this sometimes increased the contact resistance by depositing hydrocarbon materials

Remote health monitoring for elderly through interactive television

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

, and the familiar remote control, to make the service effective and easy to use also for elderly people. PMID:22908986

Remote handling prospects. Computer aided remote handling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vertut, J.

1984-01-01

Mechanical manipulators, electrical control manipulators and computer aided manipulators were successively developed. The aim of computer aided manipulators is the realization of complex or tricky job in adverse environment but man is required for non routine work or for situation in evolution. French effort is developed in the frame of the project automation and advanced robotics and new problems have to be solved particularly at the interface man/machine [fr

Compliant Aerial Manipulators

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bartelds, T.; Capra, A.; Hamaza, S.

2016-01-01

joints. The approach aims at limiting the influence of impacts on the controlled attitude dynamics in order to allow the aerial manipulator to remain stable during and after impact. The developed concept is intended to convert kinetic energy into potential energy, which is permanently stored into elastic...... elements by means of directional locking mechanisms. The proposed approach has been tested on a 2 d.o.f. manipulator mounted on a quadrotor UAV. The manipulation system has one active rotational d.o.f. compensating for pitch movements of the UAV and one passive linear joint which is in charge of absorbing...... the impact energy. The device has been used to validate the method through experiments, in comparison with a rigid manipulator. The results show that the proposed approach and the developed mechanical system achieve stable impact absorption without bouncing away from the interacting environment. Our work has...

A Remote Monitoring System for Greenhouse Based on the Internet of Things

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xu Zhenfeng

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The Internet of Things (IOT is considered as a great opportunity for the development in the information field nowadays, and has been applied widely in many fields. The IOT can be applied to monitor and control the microclimate factors of greenhouse remotely. In this paper, a wireless monitoring network is designed in the perception layer of the IOT. The nodes are developed based on the Mica2 hardware and the TinyOS software. The LPL (low power listening technology is adopted to reduce the energy consumption of the relay node which is powered by a solar panel. The ACK (Acknowledgement mechanism is used in the software to improve the quality of wireless communications. A remote monitoring terminal is developed by using Java technology. The monitoring terminal is easy to operate with good interactivity. The system has been installed in a glass greenhouse. The actual operation results show that the system is stable and reliable, which lays a good foundation for the development of remote control strategies in future.

Failed fuel rod detection system and computerized manipulator during outages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boehm, H.H.; Foerch, H.

1984-01-01

During regular outages spent fuel assemblies need to be replaced and relocated within the core. Defective fuel rods in particular fuel assemblies have to be removed from further service and before delivery of such faulty fuel assemblies to a reprocessing plant. The system which Brown Boveri Reaktor GmbH and Krautkraemer have developed in the Federal Republic of Germany is capable of directly locating the defective rods in a proper fuel assembly. Inspection times are comparable to those of standard sipping methods, with the advantages of immediately available results and direct identification of the defective fuel rods. During the repair of fuel assemblies this system allows withdrawal of individual defective rods. With the sipping method all the fuel rods of a defective fuel assembly need to be removed and inspected by eddy current testing. During steam generator inspection and repair personnel are exposed to ample radiation. A remotely controlled, computerized manipulator was used to significantly reduce the radiation dose by automating steps in the procedures; at the same time inspection and repair times were reduced. The main features of the manipulator are a rigid component construction of the leg and two arms, and a resolver control for horizontal and vertical motion that enables rapid and accurate access to a desired tube (author)

Augmented Reality Technology Using Microsoft HoloLens in Anatomic Pathology.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanna, Matthew G; Ahmed, Ishtiaque; Nine, Jeffrey; Prajapati, Shyam; Pantanowitz, Liron

2018-05-01

Context Augmented reality (AR) devices such as the Microsoft HoloLens have not been well used in the medical field. Objective To test the HoloLens for clinical and nonclinical applications in pathology. Design A Microsoft HoloLens was tested for virtual annotation during autopsy, viewing 3D gross and microscopic pathology specimens, navigating whole slide images, telepathology, as well as real-time pathology-radiology correlation. Results Pathology residents performing an autopsy wearing the HoloLens were remotely instructed with real-time diagrams, annotations, and voice instruction. 3D-scanned gross pathology specimens could be viewed as holograms and easily manipulated. Telepathology was supported during gross examination and at the time of intraoperative consultation, allowing users to remotely access a pathologist for guidance and to virtually annotate areas of interest on specimens in real-time. The HoloLens permitted radiographs to be coregistered on gross specimens and thereby enhanced locating important pathologic findings. The HoloLens also allowed easy viewing and navigation of whole slide images, using an AR workstation, including multiple coregistered tissue sections facilitating volumetric pathology evaluation. Conclusions The HoloLens is a novel AR tool with multiple clinical and nonclinical applications in pathology. The device was comfortable to wear, easy to use, provided sufficient computing power, and supported high-resolution imaging. It was useful for autopsy, gross and microscopic examination, and ideally suited for digital pathology. Unique applications include remote supervision and annotation, 3D image viewing and manipulation, telepathology in a mixed-reality environment, and real-time pathology-radiology correlation.

Remote Observational Techniques in Education

Science.gov (United States)

Thieman, J.; Mayo, L.

2002-09-01

The ability to observe celestial objects remotely is making a major impact into classroom access to astronomical instrumentation previously impossible to encorporate into curriculum. Two programs, Radio Jove and Telescopes In Education have made important contributions in this field. Radio JOVE is an interactive, hands-on, educational activity for learning the scientific method through the medium of radio observations of Jupiter, the Sun, and the galactic radio background. Students build radio receivers from relatively inexpensive non-profit kits (about \\$125 plus shipping) and use them to record data, analyze the data, and share the results with others. Alternatively, for no cost, the students can record and analyze data from remote radio receivers connected to the web. The projects are useful adjuncts to activities in optical observing since students should recognize that we learn about the universe through more than just the optical spectrum. The projects are mini-electronics courses and also teach about charged particles and magnetic fields. The Radio JOVE web site (http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov) should be consulted for further information. The NASA-sponsored Telescopes In Education (TIE) network (http://tie.jpl.nasa.gov) has been wildly successful in engaging the K-12 education community in real-time, hands-on, interactive astronomy activities. Hundreds of schools in the US, Australia, Canada, England, and Japan have participated in the TIE program, remotely controlling the 24-inch telescope at the Mount Wilson Observatory from their classrooms. In recent years, several (approximately 20 to date) other telescopes have been, or are in the process of being, outfitted for remote use as TIE affiliates. These telescopesare integrated seamlessly into one virtual observatory providing the services required to operate this facility, including a scheduling service, tools for data manipulation, an online proposal review environment, an online "Virtual TIE Student Ap J

STRATEGI PEMASARAN PAKET WISATA DI BALI EASY HOLIDAY DENPASAR BALI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erick Kevin Perangin-Angin

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This Journal aimed to know the strengths and weaknesses of the internal environment and opportunities as well as threats from the external environment and create strategies and marketing programs that can be applied in the Bali Easy Holiday. The technique data collection using observation, interview, questionnaire, the study of literature and documentation study. Sampling techniques using a purposive sampling. Data analysis techniques using qualitative descriptive analysis and Likert scale analysis. The results of this research are obtaining indicators of strengths and weaknesses of internal environment and the opportunities and threats of weaknesses in Bali Easy Holiday. Bali Easy Holiday gains 16 indicators of strengths and 4 indicators of weaknesses in Bali Easy Holiday. Bali Easy Holiday gains 9 indicators of opportunities 5 indicators of threats in Bali Easy Holiday. Marketing strategies can be applied to Bali Easy Holiday, namely : the creation of strategy and product development, market development strategies, promotion strategy, a strategy of improved human resources, the strategy of market penetration strategies, improvement of the quality of products and services and pricing strategies. This research has some advice for Bali Easy Holiday is to increase the intensity of promotion, provide ease reservations and payments to consumers, renew tour packages, provide affordable rates to customers and formed a marketing division.

Understanding pharmaceutical research manipulation in the context of accounting manipulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Abigail

2013-01-01

The problem of the manipulation of data that arises when there is both opportunity and incentive to mislead is better accepted and studied - though by no means solved - in financial accounting than in medicine. This article analyzes pharmaceutical company manipulation of medical research as part of a broader problem of corporate manipulation of data in the creation of accounting profits. The article explores how our understanding of accounting fraud and misinformation helps us understand the risk of similar information manipulation in the medical sciences. This understanding provides a framework for considering how best to improve the quality of medical research and analysis in light of the current system of medical information production. I offer three possible responses: (1) use of the Dodd-Frank whistleblower provisions to encourage reporting of medical research fraud; (2) a two-step academic journal review process for clinical trials; and (3) publicly subsidized trial-failure insurance. These would improve the release of negative information about drugs, thereby increasing the reliability of positive information. © 2013 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Inc.

An evolutionary resolution of manipulation conflict.

Science.gov (United States)

González-Forero, Mauricio

2014-07-01

Individuals can manipulate the behavior of social partners. However, manipulation may conflict with the fitness interests of the manipulated individuals. Manipulated individuals can then be favored to resist manipulation, possibly reducing or eliminating the manipulated behavior in the long run. I use a mathematical model to show that conflicts where manipulation and resistance coevolve can disappear as a result of the coevolutionary process. I find that while manipulated individuals are selected to resist, they can simultaneously be favored to express the manipulated behavior at higher efficiency (i.e., providing increasing fitness effects to recipients of the manipulated behavior). Efficiency can increase to a point at which selection for resistance disappears. This process yields an efficient social behavior that is induced by social partners, and over which the inducing and induced individuals are no longer in conflict. A necessary factor is costly inefficiency. I develop the model to address the evolution of advanced eusociality via maternal manipulation (AEMM). The model predicts AEMM to be particularly likely in taxa with ancestrally imperfect resistance to maternal manipulation. Costly inefficiency occurs if the cost of delayed dispersal is larger than the benefit of exploiting the maternal patch. I discuss broader implications of the process. © 2014 The Author(s). Evolution © 2014 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Remotely-Controlled Shear for Dismantling Highly Radioactive Tools In Rokkasho Vitrification Facility - 12204

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mitsui, Takashi; Sawa, Shusuke; Sadaki, Akira; Awano, Toshihiko [IHI Corporation, 1 Shin-Nakahara-cho, Isogo-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa (Japan); Cole, Matt [S.A. Technology Inc, 3985 S. Lincoln Ave., Ste. 100, Loveland CO 80537 (United States); Miura, Yasuhiko; Ino, Tooru [Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited, 4-108, Aza Okitsuke, Oaza Obuchi, Rokkasho-Mura, Kamikita-gun, Aomori (Japan)

2012-07-01

A high-level liquid waste vitrification facility in the Japanese Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant (RRP) is right in the middle of hot commissioning tests toward starting operation in fall of 2012. In these tests, various tools were applied to address issues occurring in the vitrification cell. Because of these tools' unplanned placement in the cell it has been necessary to dismantle and dispose of them promptly. One of the tools requiring removal is a rod used in the glass melter to improve glass pouring. It is composed of a long rod made of Inconel 601 or 625 and has been highly contaminated. In order to dismantle these tools and to remotely put them in a designated waste basket, a custom electric shear machine was developed. It was installed in a dismantling area of the vitrification cell by remote cranes and manipulators and has been successfully operated. It can be remotely dismantled and placed in a waste basket for interim storage. This is a very good example of a successful deployment of a specialty remote tool in a hot cell environment. This paper also highlights how commissioning and operations are done in the Japanese Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant. (authors)

Preliminary definition of the remote handling system for the current IFMIF Test Facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Queral, V., E-mail: vicentemanuel.queral@ciemat.es [Laboratorio Nacional de Fusion, EURATOM-CIEMAT, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Urbon, J. [Laboratorio Nacional de Fusion, EURATOM-CIEMAT, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Instituto de Fusion Nuclear, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, 28006 Madrid (Spain); Garcia, A.; Cuarental, I.; Mota, F. [Laboratorio Nacional de Fusion, EURATOM-CIEMAT, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Micciche, G. [CR ENEA Brasimone, I-40035 Camugnano (BO) (Italy); Ibarra, A. [Laboratorio Nacional de Fusion, EURATOM-CIEMAT, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Rapisarda, D. [Laboratorio Nacional de Fusion, EURATOM-CIEMAT, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Instituto de Fusion Nuclear, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, 28006 Madrid (Spain); Casal, N. [Laboratorio Nacional de Fusion, EURATOM-CIEMAT, 28040 Madrid (Spain)

2011-10-15

A coherent design of the remote handling system with the design of the components to be manipulated is vital for reliable, safe and fast maintenance, having a decisive impact on availability, occupational exposures and operational cost of the facility. Highly activated components in the IFMIF facility are found at the Test Cell, a shielded pit where the samples are accurately located. The remote handling system for the Test Cell reference design was outlined in some past IFMIF studies. Currently a new preliminary design of the Test Cell in the IFMIF facility is being developed, introducing important modifications with respect to the reference one. This recent design separates the previous Vertical Test Assemblies in three functional components: Test Modules, shielding plugs and conduits. Therefore, it is necessary to adapt the previous design of the remote handling system to the new maintenance procedures and requirements. This paper summarises such modifications of the remote handling system, in particular the assessment of the feasibility of a modified commercial multirope crane for the handling of the weighty shielding plugs for the new Test Cell and a quasi-commercial grapple for the handling of the new Test Modules.

Preliminary definition of the remote handling system for the current IFMIF Test Facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Queral, V.; Urbon, J.; Garcia, A.; Cuarental, I.; Mota, F.; Micciche, G.; Ibarra, A.; Rapisarda, D.; Casal, N.

2011-01-01

A coherent design of the remote handling system with the design of the components to be manipulated is vital for reliable, safe and fast maintenance, having a decisive impact on availability, occupational exposures and operational cost of the facility. Highly activated components in the IFMIF facility are found at the Test Cell, a shielded pit where the samples are accurately located. The remote handling system for the Test Cell reference design was outlined in some past IFMIF studies. Currently a new preliminary design of the Test Cell in the IFMIF facility is being developed, introducing important modifications with respect to the reference one. This recent design separates the previous Vertical Test Assemblies in three functional components: Test Modules, shielding plugs and conduits. Therefore, it is necessary to adapt the previous design of the remote handling system to the new maintenance procedures and requirements. This paper summarises such modifications of the remote handling system, in particular the assessment of the feasibility of a modified commercial multirope crane for the handling of the weighty shielding plugs for the new Test Cell and a quasi-commercial grapple for the handling of the new Test Modules.

A Study of Accuracy and Time Delay for Bilateral Master-Slave Industrial Robotic Arm Manipulator System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mansor Nuratiqa Natrah

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Bilateral master-slave industrial robotic arm manipulator system is an advanced technology used to help human to interact with environments that are unreachable to human, due to its remoteness or perilous. The system has been used in different areas such as tele-surgery, autonomous tele-operation for sea and space operation and handling explosive or high radiation operation fields. It is beneficial both for science and society. Remarkably, the system is not common and generally used in Malaysia. Likewise, the number of research conducted that focused about this technology in our country manufacturing industry are not yet discovered and existent. The implementation of this bilateral manipulator system in an industrial robot could be useful for industrial imminent and development over our country and people, specifically for production yield size and human operative. Hence, the study of bilateral robotic arm manipulator system in an industrial robot and analyzation of its performance and time delay in 3 differ controllers will be discussed to attest the efficiency and its effectiveness on the said design system. The experiment conducted was on KUKA youBot arm in V-Rep simulation with three different controllers (P, PD, PID.

Guide to improving the performance of a manipulator system for nuclear fuel handling through computer controls. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, J.M. Jr.; Albus, J.S.; Barbera, A.J.; Rosenthal, R.; Truitt, W.B.

1975-11-01

The Office of Developmental Automation and Control Technology of the Institute for Computer Sciences and Technology of the National Bureau of Standards provides advising services, standards and guidelines on interface and computer control systems, and performance specifications for the procurement and use of computer controlled manipulators and other computer based automation systems. These outputs help other agencies and industry apply this technology to increase productivity and improve work quality by removing men from hazardous environments. In FY 74 personnel from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory visited NBS to discuss the feasibility of using computer control techniques to improve the operation of remote control manipulators in nuclear fuel reprocessing. Subsequent discussions led to an agreement for NBS to develop a conceptual design for such a computer control system for the PaR Model 3000 manipulator in the Thorium Uranium Recycle Facility (TURF) at ORNL. This report provides the required analysis and conceptual design. Complete computer programs are included for testing of computer interfaces and for actual robot control in both point-to-point and continuous path modes

High ionization radiation field remote visualization device - shielding requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandez, Antonio P. Rodrigues; Omi, Nelson M.; Silveira, Carlos Gaia da; Calvo, Wilson A. Pajero

2011-01-01

The high activity sources manipulation hot-cells use special and very thick leaded glass windows. This window provides a single sight of what is being manipulated inside the hot-cell. The use of surveillance cameras would replace the leaded glass window, provide other sights and show more details of the manipulated pieces, using the zoom capacity. Online distant manipulation may be implemented, too. The limitation is their low ionizing radiation resistance. This low resistance also limited the useful time of robots made to explore or even fix problematic nuclear reactor core, industrial gamma irradiators and high radioactive leaks. This work is a part of the development of a high gamma field remote visualization device using commercial surveillance cameras. These cameras are cheap enough to be discarded after the use for some hours of use in an emergency application, some days or some months in routine applications. A radiation shield can be used but it cannot block the camera sight which is the shield weakness. Estimates of the camera and its electronics resistance may be made knowing each component behavior. This knowledge is also used to determine the optical sensor type and the lens material, too. A better approach will be obtained with the commercial cameras working inside a high gamma field, like the one inside of the IPEN Multipurpose Irradiator. The goal of this work is to establish the radiation shielding needed to extend the camera's useful time to hours, days or months, depending on the application needs. (author)

Manipulation, salience, and nudges.

Science.gov (United States)

Noggle, Robert

2018-03-01

Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler recommend helping people make better decisions by employing 'nudges', which they define as noncoercive methods of influencing choice for the better. Not surprisingly, healthcare practitioners and public policy professionals have become interested in whether nudges might be a promising method of improving health-related behaviors without resorting to heavy-handed methods such as coercion, deception, or government regulation. Many nudges seem unobjectionable as they merely improve the quality and quantity available for the decision-maker. However, other nudges influence decision-making in ways that do not involve providing more and better information. Nudges of this sort raise concerns about manipulation. This paper will focus on noninformational nudges that operate by changing the salience of various options. It will survey two approaches to understanding manipulation, one which sees manipulation as a kind of pressure, and one that sees it as a kind of trickery. On the pressure view, salience nudges do not appear to be manipulative. However, on the trickery view (which the author favors), salience nudges will be manipulative if they increase the salience so that it is disproportionate to that fact's true relevance and importance for the decision at hand. By contrast, salience nudges will not be manipulative if they merely highlight some fact that is true and important for the decision at hand. The paper concludes by providing examples of both manipulative and nonmanipulative salience nudges. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Integrated digital control and man-machine interface for complex remote handing systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rowe, J.C.; Spille, R.F.; Zimmermann, S.D.

1987-01-01

The Advanced Integrated Maintenance System (AIMS) is part of a continuing effort within the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to develop and extend the capabilities of remote manipulation and maintenance technology. The AIMS is a totally integrated approach to remote handling in hazardous environments. State-of-the-art computer systems connected through a high-speed distributed control system that supports the flexibility and expandability needed for large integrated maintenance applications. A man-Machine Interface provides high-level human interaction through a powerful color graphics menu-controlled operator console. An auxiliary control system handles the real-time processing needs for a variety of support hardware. A pair of dedicated fiber-optic-linked master/slave computer systems control the Advanced Servomanipulator master/slave arms using powerful distributed digital processing methods. The FORTH language was used as a real-time operating and development environment for the entire system, and all of these components are integrated into a control room concept that represents the latest advancements in the development of remote maintenance facilities for hazardous environments

Development of remote crane system for use inside small argon hot-cell

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jong Kwang; Park, Byung Suk; Yu, Seung-Nam; Kim, Kiho; Cho, Ilje [Nuclear Fuel Cycle Process Technology Development Division, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2013-07-01

In this paper, we describe the design of a novel crane system for the use in a small argon hot-cell where only a pair of master-slave manipulators (MSM) is available for the remote maintenance of the crane. To increase the remote maintainability in the space-limited environment, we devised a remote actuation mechanism in which electrical parts consisting of a servo-motor, a position sensor, and two limit switches located inside the workspace of the MSM transmit power to the mechanical parts located in the ceiling. Even though the design concept does not provide thoroughly sufficient solution because the mechanical parts are placed out of the MSM's workspace, the durability of mechanical parts can be easily increased if they have a high safety margin. Therefore, the concept may be one of the best solutions for our special crane system. In addition, we developed a servo-control system based on absolute positioning technology; therefore, it is possible for us to perform the given tasks more safely through an automatic operation. (authors)

Integrated digital control and man-machine interface for complex remote handling systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rowe, J.C.; Spille, R.F.; Zimmermann, S.D.

1986-12-01

The Advanced Integrated Maintenance System (AIMS) is part of a continuing effort within the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to develop and extend the capabilities of remote manipulation and maintenance technology. The AIMS is a totally integrated approach to remote handling in hazardous environments. State-of-the-art computer systems connected through a high-speed communication network provide a real-time distributed control system that supports the flexibility and expandability needed for large integrated maintenance applications. A Man-Machine Interface provides high-level human interaction through a powerful color graphics menu-controlled operator console. An auxiliary control system handles the real-time processing needs for a variety of support hardware. A pair of dedicated fiber-optic-linked master/slave computer system control the Advanced Servomanipulator master/slave arms using powerful distributed digital processing methods. The FORTH language was used as a real-time operating and development environment for the entire system, and all of these components are integrated into a control room concept that represents the latest advancements in the development of remote maintenance facilities for hazardous environments

Development of remote controller for an EMI test receiver in site survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cha, K. H.; Hwang, I. G.; Lee, D. Y.; Lee, K. Y.; Park, J. K.

2000-01-01

EMI assessment, which is based on the Site survey(the measurement of EMI noise) in an operating plant, can be considered for system design. Our Site survey is being planned to utilize the ESI7 model, to be manufactured as the EMI test receiver by Rodge-Schwaltz GmbH. But the ESI7 is often manipulated by manual if a Site survey is continued for some days in nuclear power plant. The problem can be resolved if a remote controller is implemented for the ESI7 and it controls the ESI7. The Remote Controller has its functions for supporting the ESI7 manual tasks, including storing mass SCAN data onto external PC memory (hard-disk), controlling ESI7, and analyzing the stored SCAN data. These functions have been implemented in 'G' programming of LabVIEW software under a notebook PC with PCMCIA-GPIB card. The Remote Controller prototype will be applied to store the real EMI measurements in the coming Site survey and analyze the data after integrated tests and their evaluation

Cell manipulation in microfluidics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yun, Hoyoung; Kim, Kisoo; Lee, Won Gu

2013-01-01

Recent advances in the lab-on-a-chip field in association with nano/microfluidics have been made for new applications and functionalities to the fields of molecular biology, genetic analysis and proteomics, enabling the expansion of the cell biology field. Specifically, microfluidics has provided promising tools for enhancing cell biological research, since it has the ability to precisely control the cellular environment, to easily mimic heterogeneous cellular environment by multiplexing, and to analyze sub-cellular information by high-contents screening assays at the single-cell level. Various cell manipulation techniques in microfluidics have been developed in accordance with specific objectives and applications. In this review, we examine the latest achievements of cell manipulation techniques in microfluidics by categorizing externally applied forces for manipulation: (i) optical, (ii) magnetic, (iii) electrical, (iv) mechanical and (v) other manipulations. We furthermore focus on history where the manipulation techniques originate and also discuss future perspectives with key examples where available. (topical review)

Clinical evaluation of the use of a multifunctional remotely controlled insulin pump: multicenter observational study.

Science.gov (United States)

Boizel, Robert; Pinget, Michel; Lachgar, Karim; Parkin, Christopher G; Grulet, Hervé; Guillon-Metz, Françoise; Weissmann, Joerg

2014-11-01

Current insulin pumps now feature advanced functions for calculating insulin dosages, delivering insulin and analyzing data, however, the perceived usefulness of these functions in clinical settings has not been well studied. We assessed the use and patient perceptions of an insulin delivery system (Accu-Chek® Combo, Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany) that combines an insulin pump and a handheld multifunctional blood glucose meter with integrated remote control functions. This prospective, observational, multicenter study enrolled 74 type 1 diabetes patients within 13 weeks after starting use of the pump system. At 4 to 24 weeks, investigators collected usage data from the latest 14-day period. Seventy-two patients completed the evaluation, aged 39 ± 15 years, diabetes duration 16 ± 13 years, HbA1c 8.3 ± 1.6%. At follow-up, 62 (86.1%) patients used the remote control for ≥50% of all boluses, 20 (27.8%) used the bolus advisor for ≥50% of all boluses, and 42 (58.3%) viewed at least 1 of the e-logbook reports. More than 95% of users appraised the functions as easy-to-use and useful; median scores from VAS (0 = useless to 100 = indispensable) ranged from 72 to 85. A high percentage of study patients used the system's advanced features, especially the remote control feature for bolusing. Overall, patients assessed the functions as useful and easy to use. Results support the implementation of these smart capabilities in further insulin pump developments. © 2014 Diabetes Technology Society.

Feasibility of a 2"n"d generation MR-compatible manipulator for transrectal prostate biopsy guidance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bomers, J.G.R.; Yakar, D.; Bosboom, D.G.H.; Tigelaar, G.H.; Sabisch, J.; Fuetterer, J.J.

2017-01-01

To assess the feasibility of a 2"n"d generation MR-compatible, remote-controlled manipulator (RCM) as an aid to perform MR-guided transrectal prostate biopsy in males with suspicion of prostate cancer (PCa). This prospective phase I study was approved by the local ethical committee and written informed consent was obtained from each patient. Twenty patients with ≥1 cancer suspicious region (CSR) with a PI-RADS score of ≥3 detected on the diagnostic multi-parametric MRI and no prior prostate treatment underwent MR-guided biopsy with the aid of the RCM. Complications were classified according to the modified Clavien system for reporting surgical complications. For evaluation of the workflow, procedure- and manipulation times were recorded. All CSR's (n=20) were reachable with the MR-compatible RCM and the cancer detection rate was 70 %. The median procedure time was 36:44 minutes (range, 23 - 61 minutes) and the median manipulation time for needle guide movement was 5:48 minutes (range, 1:15 - 18:35 minutes). Two Clavien grade 1 complications were reported. It is feasible and safe to perform transrectal MR-guided prostate biopsy using a MR-compatible RCM as an aid. It is a fast and efficient way to biopsy suspicious prostate lesions with a minimum number of biopsies per patient. (orig.)

Project Plan 7930 Cell G PaR Remote Handling System Replacement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kinney, Kathryn A.

2009-01-01

For over 40 years the US Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessors have made Californium-252 ( 252 Cf) available for a wide range of industries including medical, nuclear fuels, mining, military and national security. The Radiochemical Engineering Development Center (REDC) located within the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) processes irradiated production targets from the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). Operations in Building 7930, Cell G provide over 70% of the world's demand for 252 Cf. Building 7930 was constructed and equipped in the mid-1960s. Current operations for 252 Cf processing in Building 7930, Cell G require use of through-the-wall manipulators and the PaR Remote Handling System. Maintenance and repairs for the manipulators is readily accomplished by removal of the manipulator and relocation to a repair shop where hands-on work can be performed in glove boxes. Contamination inside cell G does not currently allow manned entry and no provisions were created for a maintenance area inside the cell. There has been no maintenance of the PaR system or upgrades, leaving operations vulnerable should the system have a catastrophic failure. The Cell G PaR system is currently being operated in a run to failure mode. As the manipulator is now 40+ years old there is significant risk in this method of operation. In 2006 an assessment was completed that resulted in recommendations for replacing the manipulator operator control and power centers which are used to control and power the PaR manipulator in Cell G. In mid-2008 the chain for the bridge drive failed and subsequent examinations indicated several damaged links (see Figure 1). To continue operations the PaR manipulator arm is being used to push and pull the bridge as a workaround. A retrieval tool was fabricated, tested and staged inside Cell G that will allow positioning of the bridge and manipulator arm for removal from the cell should the PaR system completely fail. A fully functioning and

Remotely operated closure device for a pipeline with a fixed pipeline flange

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Westendorf, H.

1987-01-01

The remotely operated closure is set by suspension centring on the circumference of a blank flange on the fixed pipeline flange to be closed. By operating a central actuating mechanism at the closure, the clamping levers are adjusted so that the blank flange is clamped to the pipeline flange and the two flanges are pressed together. The spring-loaded clamping levers are particularly suitable for actuating the closure with the pliers of a manipulator of a large cell. (DG) [de

Portable laser spectrometer for airborne and ground-based remote sensing of geological CO2 emissions.

Science.gov (United States)

Queisser, Manuel; Burton, Mike; Allan, Graham R; Chiarugi, Antonio

2017-07-15

A 24 kg, suitcase sized, CW laser remote sensing spectrometer (LARSS) with a ~2 km range has been developed. It has demonstrated its flexibility in measuring both atmospheric CO2 from an airborne platform and terrestrial emission of CO2 from a remote mud volcano, Bledug Kuwu, Indonesia, from a ground-based sight. This system scans the CO2 absorption line with 20 discrete wavelengths, as opposed to the typical two-wavelength online offline instrument. This multi-wavelength approach offers an effective quality control, bias control, and confidence estimate of measured CO2 concentrations via spectral fitting. The simplicity, ruggedness, and flexibility in the design allow for easy transportation and use on different platforms with a quick setup in some of the most challenging climatic conditions. While more refinement is needed, the results represent a stepping stone towards widespread use of active one-sided gas remote sensing in the earth sciences.

Leadership Manipulation and Ethics in Storytelling

OpenAIRE

Auvinen, Tommi; Lämsä, Anna-Maija; Sintonen, Teppo; Takala, Tuomo

2013-01-01

This article focuses on exerting influence in leadership, namely manipulation in storytelling. Manipulation is usually considered an unethical approach to leadership. We will argue that manipulation is a more complex phenomenon than just an unethical way of acting in leadership. We will demonstrate through an empirical qualitative study that there are various types of manipulation through storytelling. This article makes a contribution to the literature on manipulation through leadership stor...

Applications of custom scripting in digital micrograph: general image manipulation and utilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitchell, D.R.G.

2002-01-01

Full text: The Gatan Imaging Filter (GIF) uses a charge coupled device (CCD) camera to capture images and spectra. Image capture and manipulation is achieved through Gatan's Digital Micrograph software. This has many capabilities built-in, and can be further extended through installation of custom scripts. These are typically short programs written in a powerful scripting language, which permits many aspects of image acquisition and subsequent manipulation to be controlled by the user. Custom scripts can be added to the normal pull down menus, producing a very flexible and easy to use environment. The scripts described here demonstrate how custom scripting can enhance the functionality of a modem analytical TEM equipped with, in this instance, a GIF. However, scripting will enhance any TEM using a CCD camera controlled through Digital Micrograph. The examples shown here include: a) a script to rotationally average a selected area diffraction pattern and produce a calibrated radial intensity profile, b) a utility script which monitors and graphically displays the CCD temperature as a function of time and c) a simple script to propagate image spatial calibrations to uncalibrated images, such as EFTEM images. Other scripts by the author along with some scripting resources are also discussed. Copyright (2002) Australian Society for Electron Microscopy Inc

MATHEMATICAL MODEL MANIPULATOR ROBOTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. N. Krakhmalev

2015-12-01

Full Text Available A mathematical model to describe the dynamics of manipulator robots. Mathematical model are the implementation of the method based on the Lagrange equation and using the transformation matrices of elastic coordinates. Mathematical model make it possible to determine the elastic deviations of manipulator robots from programmed motion trajectories caused by elastic deformations in hinges, which are taken into account in directions of change of the corresponding generalized coordinates. Mathematical model is approximated and makes it possible to determine small elastic quasi-static deviations and elastic vibrations. The results of modeling the dynamics by model are compared to the example of a two-link manipulator system. The considered model can be used when performing investigations of the mathematical accuracy of the manipulator robots.

Techniques for remote maintenance of in-cell material-handling system in the HFEF/N main cell

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tobias, D.A.; Frickey, C.A.

1975-01-01

Operations in the main cell of HFEF/N have required development of remote handling equipment and unique techniques for maintaining the in-cell material-handling system. Specially designed equipment is used to remove a disabled crane or electromechanical manipulator bridge from its support rails and place it on floor stands for repair or maintenance. Support areas for the main cell, such as the spray chamber and hot repair area, provide essential decontamination, repair, and staging areas for the in-cell material-handling-system equipment and tools. A combined engineering and technical effort in upgrading existing master-slave manipulators has definitely reduced the requirements for their maintenance. The cell is primarily for postirradiation examination of LMFBR materials and fuel elements

Laparoscopic simulation for all: two affordable, upgradable, and easy-to-build laparoscopic trainers.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Matthew D; Norris, Joseph M; Kishikova, Lyudmila; Smith, David P

2013-01-01

Laparoscopic surgery has established itself as the approach of choice for a multitude of operations in general, urological, and gynecological surgery. A number of factors make performing laparoscopic surgery technically demanding, and as such it is crucial that surgical trainees hone their skills safely on trainers before operating on patients. These can be highly expensive. Here, we describe a novel and upgradable approach to constructing an affordable laparoscopic trainer. A pattern was produced to build an upgradable laparoscopic trainer for less than $100. The basic model was constructed from an opaque plastic crate with plywood base, 2 trocars, and 2 pairs of disposable laparoscopic instruments. A laptop, a light emitting diode (LED), and a fixed webcam were utilized to visualize the box interior. An enhanced version was also created, as an optional upgrade to the basic model, featuring a neoprene-trocar interface and a simulated mobile laparoscope. The described setup allowed trainees to gain familiarity with laparoscopic techniques, beginning with simple manipulation and then progressing through to more relevant procedures. Novices began by moving easy-to-grasp objects between containers and then attempting more challenging manipulations such as stacking sugar cubes, excising simulated lesions, threading circular mints onto cotton, and ligating fastened drinking straws. These techniques have introduced the necessity of careful instrument placement and have increased trainees' dexterity with laparoscopy. Here, we have outlined an upgradable and affordable alternative laparoscopic trainer that has given many trainees crucial experience with laparoscopic techniques, allowing them to safely improve their manual skill and confidence. Copyright © 2013 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Design for high productivity remote handling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sykes, N., E-mail: nick.sykes@ccfe.ac.uk [Culham Centre For Fusion Energy, Culham Science Centre, OX14 3DB, Abingdon (United Kingdom); Collins, S.; Loving, A.B.; Ricardo, V. [Culham Centre For Fusion Energy, Culham Science Centre, OX14 3DB, Abingdon (United Kingdom); Villedieu, E. [Association Euratom-CEA Cadarache, DSM/IRFM, Saint Paul Les Durance (France)

2011-10-15

As the central part of a programme of enhancements in support of ITER, the Joint European Torus (JET) is being equipped with an all-metal wall. This enhancement programme requires the removal and installation of 6927 tile carriers and tiles, as well as the removal and installation of embedded diagnostics and antennas. The scale of this operation and the necessity to maximise operational availability of the facility added a requirement for high productivity in the remote activities to the existing exigencies of precision, reliability, cleanliness and operational security. This high productivity requirement has been incorporated into the design of the components and associated installation tooling, the design of the installation equipment, the development of installation procedures including the use of a mock-up for optimisation and training. Consideration of the remote handling installation process is vital during the design of the in vessel components. A number of features to meet the need of the high productivity while maintaining the function requirements have been incorporated into the metal wall components and associated tooling including kinematic design with guidance appropriate for remote operation. The component and tools are designed to guide the attachment of the installation tool, the installation path, and the interlocking with adjacent components without contact between the fragile castellated beryllium of the adjacent tiles. Other incorporated ergonomic features are discussed. At JET, the remote maintenance is conducted using end effectors, normally bi-lateral force feed back manipulator, mounted on driven, articulated booms. Prior to the current shutdown one long boom was used to conduct the installation and collect and deliver components to the 'short' boom which was linked to the tile carrier transfer facility. This led to loss of efficiency during these movements. The adoption of a new remote handling philosophy using 'point of

Design for high productivity remote handling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sykes, N.; Collins, S.; Loving, A.B.; Ricardo, V.; Villedieu, E.

2011-01-01

As the central part of a programme of enhancements in support of ITER, the Joint European Torus (JET) is being equipped with an all-metal wall. This enhancement programme requires the removal and installation of 6927 tile carriers and tiles, as well as the removal and installation of embedded diagnostics and antennas. The scale of this operation and the necessity to maximise operational availability of the facility added a requirement for high productivity in the remote activities to the existing exigencies of precision, reliability, cleanliness and operational security. This high productivity requirement has been incorporated into the design of the components and associated installation tooling, the design of the installation equipment, the development of installation procedures including the use of a mock-up for optimisation and training. Consideration of the remote handling installation process is vital during the design of the in vessel components. A number of features to meet the need of the high productivity while maintaining the function requirements have been incorporated into the metal wall components and associated tooling including kinematic design with guidance appropriate for remote operation. The component and tools are designed to guide the attachment of the installation tool, the installation path, and the interlocking with adjacent components without contact between the fragile castellated beryllium of the adjacent tiles. Other incorporated ergonomic features are discussed. At JET, the remote maintenance is conducted using end effectors, normally bi-lateral force feed back manipulator, mounted on driven, articulated booms. Prior to the current shutdown one long boom was used to conduct the installation and collect and deliver components to the 'short' boom which was linked to the tile carrier transfer facility. This led to loss of efficiency during these movements. The adoption of a new remote handling philosophy using 'point of installation

Development of the mobile manipulator for inspection and maintenance in nuclear power plants and application of the modul devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohmichi, Takeo; Hosaka, Shigetaka; Nishihara, Masatoshi; Nakayama, Junji; Sato, Masatoshi

1986-01-01

In nuclear power stations, remote operation devices have been positively developed and applied, thus largely contributed to the reduction of the radiation exposure of workers. However, when requirements are diversified, the number of devices increases, and their management becomes complicated. The largest obstacle to the adaption of versatile robots in nuclear power stations is the environmental condition, and the small size for narrow space and the capability to withstand severe temperature, humidity and radiation must be ensured with high reliability. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. carried out the development of the manipulator for light works, which takes early counter-measures to the abnormality during operation, for five years as the subsidized project by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. This robot is composed of a slave robot working in vessels and the central control system. The slave robot comprises a modular manipulator arm, the slave controller, a running carriage and the three-dimensional visual system. The components of the central control system are connected with optical fibers. The features and function and applicability of this manipulator are described. (Kako, I.)

Adaptive control of robotic manipulators

Science.gov (United States)

Seraji, H.

1987-01-01

The author presents a novel approach to adaptive control of manipulators to achieve trajectory tracking by the joint angles. The central concept in this approach is the utilization of the manipulator inverse as a feedforward controller. The desired trajectory is applied as an input to the feedforward controller which behaves as the inverse of the manipulator at any operating point; the controller output is used as the driving torque for the manipulator. The controller gains are then updated by an adaptation algorithm derived from MRAC (model reference adaptive control) theory to cope with variations in the manipulator inverse due to changes of the operating point. An adaptive feedback controller and an auxiliary signal are also used to enhance closed-loop stability and to achieve faster adaptation. The proposed control scheme is computationally fast and does not require a priori knowledge of the complex dynamic model or the parameter values of the manipulator or the payload.

High-Efficiency Dielectric Metasurfaces for Polarization-Dependent Terahertz Wavefront Manipulation

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Huifang

2017-11-30

Recently, metasurfaces made up of dielectric structures have drawn enormous attentions in the optical and infrared regimes due to their high efficiency and designing freedom in manipulating light propagation. Such advantages can also be introduced to terahertz frequencies where efficient functional devices are still lacking. Here, polarization-dependent all-silicon terahertz dielectric metasurfaces are proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The metasurfaces are composed of anisotropic rectangular-shaped silicon pillars on silicon substrate. Each metasurface holds dual different functions depending on the incident polarizations. Furthermore, to suppress the reflection loss and multireflection effect in practical applications, a high-performance polarization-independent antireflection silicon pillar array is also proposed, which can be patterned at the other side of the silicon substrate. Such all-silicon dielectric metasurfaces are easy to fabricate and can be very promising in developing next-generation efficient, compact, and low-cost terahertz functional devices.

Easy instrumental analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ko, Myeong Su; Kim, Tae Hwa; Park, Gyu Hyeon; Yang, Jong Beom; Oh, Chang Hwan; Lee, Kyoung Hye

2010-04-01

This textbook describes instrument analysis in easy way with twelve chapters. The contents of the book are pH measurement on principle, pH meter, pH measurement, examples of the experiments, centrifugation, Absorptiometry, Fluorescent method, Atomic absorption analysis, Gas-chromatography, Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, High performance liquid chromatography liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometry, Electrophoresis on practical case and analysis of the result and examples, PCR on principle, device, application and examples and Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with indirect ELISA, sandwich ELISA and ELISA reader.

Easy instrumental analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ko, Myeong Su; Kim, Tae Hwa; Park, Gyu Hyeon; Yang, Jong Beom; Oh, Chang Hwan; Lee, Kyoung Hye

2010-04-15

This textbook describes instrument analysis in easy way with twelve chapters. The contents of the book are pH measurement on principle, pH meter, pH measurement, examples of the experiments, centrifugation, Absorptiometry, Fluorescent method, Atomic absorption analysis, Gas-chromatography, Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, High performance liquid chromatography liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometry, Electrophoresis on practical case and analysis of the result and examples, PCR on principle, device, application and examples and Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with indirect ELISA, sandwich ELISA and ELISA reader.

Dismantling of JPDR reactor internals by underwater plasma arc cutting technique using robotic manipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yokota, M.

1988-01-01

The actual dismantling of JPDR started on December 4, 1986. As of now, equipment that surrounds the reactor has mostly been removed to provide working space in reactor containment prior to the dismantling of reactor internals. Some reactor internals have been successfully dismantled using the underwater arc cutting system with a robotic manipulator during the period of January to March 1988. The cutting system is composed of an underwater plasma arc cutting device and a robotic manipulator. The cut off reactor internals were core spray block, feedwater sparger and stabilizers for fuel upper grid tube. The plasma arc cutting device was developed to dismantle the reactor internals underwater. It mainly consists of a plasma torch, power and gas supply systems for the torch, and by-product treatment systems. It has the cutting ability of 130 mm thickness stainless steel underwater. The robotic manipulator has seven degrees of freedom of movement, enabling it to move in almost the same way as the arm of a human being. The arm of the robot is mounted on a supporting device which is suspended by three chains from the support structure set on a service floor. A plasma torch is griped by the robotic hand; its position to the structure to be cut is controlled from a remote control room, about 100 meters outside the reactor containment

Protecting worker health and safety using remote handling systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dennison, D.K.; Merrill, R.D.; Reed, R.K.

1995-03-01

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is currently developing and installing two large-scale, remotely controlled systems for use in improving worker health and safety by minimizing exposure to hazardous and radioactive materials. The first system is a full-scale liquid feed system for use in delivering chemical reagents to LLNL's existing aqueous low-level radioactive and mixed waste treatment facility (Tank Farm). The Tank Farm facility is used to remove radioactive and toxic materials in aqueous wastes prior to discharge to the City of Livermore Water Reclamation Plant (LWRP), in accordance with established discharge limits. Installation of this new reagent feed system improves operational safety and process efficiency by eliminating the need to manually handle reagents used in the treatment processes. This was done by installing a system that can inject precisely metered amounts of various reagents into the treatment tanks and can be controlled either remotely or locally via a programmable logic controller (PLC). The second system uses a robotic manipulator to remotely handle, characterize, process, sort, and repackage hazardous wastes containing tritium. This system uses an IBM-developed gantry robot mounted within a special glove box enclosure designed to isolate tritiated wastes from system operators and minimize the potential for release of tritium to the atmosphere. Tritiated waste handling is performed remotely, using the robot in a teleoperational mode for one-of-a-kind functions and in an autonomous mode for repetitive operations. The system is compatible with an existing portable gas cleanup unit designed to capture any gas-phase tritium inadvertently released into the glove box during waste handling

Using Manipulatives in Math Instruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Marzola, Eileen S.

1987-01-01

Guidelines for teachers to better use manipulatives in the teaching of mathematics to learning disabled learners are offered including a rationale for manipulatives, selection crteria, principles underlying productive use of manipulatives, and making the transition from the concrete to the symbolic. Suggested materials and distributors are listed.…

Remote handling and automation in back end of fuel cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nair, K.N.S.

2010-01-01

Full text: Indian nuclear programme is readying for a quantum leap and it is essential that technology is available for building advanced fuel recycle plants in the back end and for sustained operation of such plants. Remote technology and automation plays a big role to achieve this goal. With the introduction of advanced fuel cycles in indigenous programme and scenario of international cooperation it is essential to be ready with indigenous technology for meeting all challenges. Work has been progressing to develop locally support technology for remote handling and automation with good success. Essential RH tools such as master slave manipulators, power manipulators and hot cell viewing systems have been developed and commercial production has been established. Customised RH requirements for back end plants have been met and the designs have proven to be worthy for hot operations over the years. In the last few years stress has been on development of equipment and technology to meet the increasing demands of higher throughput plants. Substantial progress has been achieved in the head end and reconversion laboratory systems of reprocessing plants. Similarly successful efforts have also been made for establishing Thoria processing cells and also the RH in the reconversion operations. Custom designed equipment has been developed for decommissioning of ceramic melter, used glove boxes etc. Efforts are on hand to develop automated RH equipment for material handling in underground repositories. This paper aims at bringing out the theme based on some of our own experiences and some reports from plants in operation abroad. (author)

French made nice & easy

CERN Document Server

REA, The Editors of

2012-01-01

Whether travelling to a foreign country or to your favorite international restaurant, this Nice & Easy guide gives you just enough of the language to get around and be understood. Much of the material in this book was developed for government personnel who are often assigned to a foreign country on a moment's notice and need a quick introduction to the language.

User's guide to program MAD: a computer program for the organization and manipulation of magnetic tape directories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gray, W.H.

1979-05-01

MAD is a computer program for the organization and manipulation of the information contained in magnetic tape directories. Program MAD creates, updates, and interrogates a set of four random access files collectively called the MAD unified data base. Although program MAD was originally intended as an information compression mechanism, it has evolved into an organization system with the added feature of an approximately 60% reduction in the space required to store the data. This program is easy to use, relatively fast, efficient in its use of disk space, and available to all users of the Fusion Energy Division DECsystem-10

Balanced articulated manipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Francois, Daniel; Germond, J.-C.; Marchal, Paul; Vertut, Jean.

1976-01-01

The description is given of a manipulator of the type comprising a master arm and a slave arm, capable of working in a containment restricted by a wall fitted with an aperture to introduce the slave arm into the containment. According to the invention this manipulator is permanently balanced irrespective of its distortions when it is secured to the wall of the containment in which it is desired to work. The entire manipulator is also balanced when being set up and when moved outside the containment, in relation to a supporting axle. This result is achieved in a simplified manner by giving homothetic shapes to the various component parts of the slave and master arms, the master arm having at least one balancing weight [fr

Direct Manipulation in Virtual Reality

Science.gov (United States)

Bryson, Steve

2003-01-01

Virtual Reality interfaces offer several advantages for scientific visualization such as the ability to perceive three-dimensional data structures in a natural way. The focus of this chapter is direct manipulation, the ability for a user in virtual reality to control objects in the virtual environment in a direct and natural way, much as objects are manipulated in the real world. Direct manipulation provides many advantages for the exploration of complex, multi-dimensional data sets, by allowing the investigator the ability to intuitively explore the data environment. Because direct manipulation is essentially a control interface, it is better suited for the exploration and analysis of a data set than for the publishing or communication of features found in that data set. Thus direct manipulation is most relevant to the analysis of complex data that fills a volume of three-dimensional space, such as a fluid flow data set. Direct manipulation allows the intuitive exploration of that data, which facilitates the discovery of data features that would be difficult to find using more conventional visualization methods. Using a direct manipulation interface in virtual reality, an investigator can, for example, move a data probe about in space, watching the results and getting a sense of how the data varies within its spatial volume.

The software design of multi-branch, multi-point remote monitoring system for temperature measurement based on MSP430 and DS18B20

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu Jun; Yan Yu

2009-01-01

This paper present that the system can acquire the remote temperature measurement data of 40 monitoring points, through the RS-232 serial port and the Intranet. System's hardware is consist of TI's MSP430F149 mixed-signal processor and UA7000A network module. Using digital temperature sensor DS18B20, the structure is simple and easy to expand, the sensors directly send out the temperature data, MSP430F149 has the advantage of ultra-low-power and high degree of integration. Using msp430F149, the multi-branch multi-point temperature measurement system is powerful, simple structure, high reliability, strong anti-interference capability. The client software is user-friendly and easy to use, it is designed in Microsoft Visual C+ +6.0 environment. The monitoring system is able to complete a total of 4 branches of the 40-point temperature measurements in real-time remote monitoring. (authors)

Virtual and Remote Robotic Laboratory Using EJS, MATLAB and LabVIEW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jose Antonio Lopez-Orozco

2013-02-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the design and implementation of a virtual and remote laboratory based on Easy Java Simulations (EJS and LabVIEW. The main application of this laboratory is to improve the study of sensors in Mobile Robotics, dealing with the problems that arise on the real world experiments. This laboratory allows the user to work from their homes, tele-operating a real robot that takes measurements from its sensors in order to obtain a map of its environment. In addition, the application allows interacting with a robot simulation (virtual laboratory or with a real robot (remote laboratory, with the same simple and intuitive graphical user interface in EJS. Thus, students can develop signal processing and control algorithms for the robot in simulation and then deploy them on the real robot for testing purposes. Practical examples of application of the laboratory on the inter-University Master of Systems Engineering and Automatic Control are presented.

Virtual and remote robotic laboratory using EJS, MATLAB and LabVIEW.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaos, Dictino; Chacón, Jesús; Lopez-Orozco, Jose Antonio; Dormido, Sebastián

2013-02-21

This paper describes the design and implementation of a virtual and remote laboratory based on Easy Java Simulations (EJS) and LabVIEW. The main application of this laboratory is to improve the study of sensors in Mobile Robotics, dealing with the problems that arise on the real world experiments. This laboratory allows the user to work from their homes, tele-operating a real robot that takes measurements from its sensors in order to obtain a map of its environment. In addition, the application allows interacting with a robot simulation (virtual laboratory) or with a real robot (remote laboratory), with the same simple and intuitive graphical user interface in EJS. Thus, students can develop signal processing and control algorithms for the robot in simulation and then deploy them on the real robot for testing purposes. Practical examples of application of the laboratory on the inter-University Master of Systems Engineering and Automatic Control are presented.

Acoustic water bottom investigation with a remotely operated watercraft survey system

Science.gov (United States)

Yamasaki, Shintaro; Tabusa, Tomonori; Iwasaki, Shunsuke; Hiramatsu, Masahiro

2017-12-01

This paper describes a remotely operated investigation system developed by combining a modern leisure-use fish finder and an unmanned watercraft to survey water bottom topography and other data related to bottom materials. Current leisure-use fish finders have strong depth sounding capabilities and can provide precise sonar images and bathymetric information. Because these sonar instruments are lightweight and small, they can be used on unmanned small watercraft. With the developed system, an operator can direct the heading of an unmanned watercraft and monitor a PC display showing real-time positioning information through the use of onboard equipment and long-distance communication devices. Here, we explain how the system was developed and demonstrate the use of the system in an area of submerged woods in a lake. The system is low cost, easy to use, and mobile. It should be useful in surveying areas that have heretofore been hard to investigate, including remote, small, and shallow lakes, for example, volcanic and glacial lakes.

Tools and Services for Working with Multiple Land Remote Sensing Data Products

Science.gov (United States)

Krehbiel, C.; Friesz, A.; Harriman, L.; Quenzer, R.; Impecoven, K.; Maiersperger, T.

2016-12-01

The availability of increasingly large and diverse satellite remote sensing datasets provides both an opportunity and a challenge across broad Earth science research communities. On one hand, the extensive assortment of available data offer unprecedented opportunities to improve our understanding of Earth science and enable data use across a multitude of science disciplines. On the other hand, increasingly complex formats, data structures, and metadata can be an obstacle to data use for the broad user community that is interested in incorporating remote sensing Earth science data into their research. NASA's Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) provides easy to use Python notebook tutorials for services such as accessing land remote sensing data from the LP DAAC Data Pool and interpreting data quality information from MODIS. We use examples to demonstrate the capabilities of the Application for Extracting and Exploring Analysis Ready Samples (AppEEARS), such as spatially and spectrally subsetting data, decoding valuable quality information, and exploring initial analysis results within the user interface. We also show data recipes for R and Python scripts that help users process ASTER L1T and ASTER Global Emissivity Datasets.

Remote through-wall sampling of the Trawsfynydd reactor pressure vessel: an overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Curry, A.; Clayton, R.

1996-01-01

This paper summarises the application of robotic equipment for gaining access to and removing through-wall samples from welds of the reactor pressure vessel at Trawsfynydd power station. The environment, which presents hazards due to ionising radiation, radioactive contamination and asbestos bearing materials is described. The means of access, by use of remote vehicles complete with robotic manipulators supported by additional vehicles, is reviewed. The use of Abrasive Water Jet Cutting for sample removal is introduced. The relative advantages and disadvantages of this technique are discussed. (Author)

Geometric control of manipulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thiruarooran, C.

1996-01-01

Resolved motion control enables the end effector to be moved as a rigid body in space without having to work out manually the joint combinations needed. Since a rigid body in space has three independent translational and three independent rotational movements, a manipulator with at least six joints can be controlled in this way. Normally the manipulator has more than six joints providing an infinite number of ways of moving the tip in the desired direction and this redundancy can be exploited in a variety of ways. Resolved motion tests performed on a hydraulically operated heavy duty manipulator at the Dungeness nuclear power plant are described. The results have shown that manipulators with as many as ten joints can be controlled under resolved tip motion and the areas which are critical to the performance of this type of control have been identified. (UK)

The Feasibility and Validity of a Remote Pulse Oximetry System for Pulmonary Rehabilitation: A Pilot Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonathan Tang

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Pulmonary rehabilitation is an effective treatment for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, access to these services is limited especially in rural and remote areas. Telerehabilitation has the potential to deliver pulmonary rehabilitation programs to these communities. The aim of this study was threefold: to establish the technical feasibility of transmitting real-time pulse oximetry data, determine the validity of remote measurements compared to conventional face-to-face measures, and evaluate the participants’ perception of the usability of the technology. Thirty-seven healthy individuals participated in a single remote pulmonary rehabilitation exercise session, conducted using the eHAB telerehabilitation system. Validity was assessed by comparing the participant's oxygen saturation and heart rate with the data set received at the therapist’s remote location. There was an 80% exact agreement between participant and therapist data sets. The mean absolute difference and Bland and Altman’s limits of agreement fell within the minimum clinically important difference for both oxygen saturation and heart rate values. Participants found the system easy to use and felt confident that they would be able to use it at home. Remote measurement of pulse oximetry data for a pulmonary rehabilitation exercise session was feasible and valid when compared to conventional face-to-face methods.

Control of a flexible bracing manipulator: Integration of current research work to realize the bracing manipulator

Science.gov (United States)

Kwon, Dong-Soo

1991-01-01

All research results about flexible manipulator control were integrated to show a control scenario of a bracing manipulator. First, dynamic analysis of a flexible manipulator was done for modeling. Second, from the dynamic model, the inverse dynamic equation was derived, and the time domain inverse dynamic method was proposed for the calculation of the feedforward torque and the desired flexible coordinate trajectories. Third, a tracking controller was designed by combining the inverse dynamic feedforward control with the joint feedback control. The control scheme was applied to the tip position control of a single link flexible manipulator for zero and non-zero initial condition cases. Finally, the contact control scheme was added to the position tracking control. A control scenario of a bracing manipulator is provided and evaluated through simulation and experiment on a single link flexible manipulator.

Modeling the manipulator and flipper pose effects on tip over stability of a tracked mobile manipulator

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Dube, C

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Mobile manipulators are used in a number of different applications such as bomb disposal, mining robotics, and search and rescue operations. These mobile manipulators are highly susceptible to tip over due to the motion of the manipulator...

Remote maintenance considerations for swimming pool tokamak reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niikura, S.; Yamada, M.; Kasai, M.

1983-01-01

Swimming Pool Tokamak Reactor (SPTR) is one of the candidate devices which are expected to demonstrate physical and engineering feasibility for fusion power reactors. In SPTR, water shield is adopted instead of solid shield structures. Among the advantages of SPTR are, from viewpoint of remote maintenance, small handling weight and high space availability between TF coils and a vacuum vessel. On the other hand, high dose rate during reactor repair and adverse effects on remote maintenance equipment by the shielding water might be the disadvantage of SPTR, where it is assumed that the shielding water is drained during reactor repair. Since the design of SPTR is still at the preliminary stage, for remote maintenance, much effort has been directed to clarification of design conditions such as environment and handling weight. As for the remote maintenance system concepts, studies have been focussed on those for a vacuum vessel and its internal structure (blanket, divertor and protection walls) expected to be repaired more frequently. The vacuum vessel assembly is divided into 21 sectors and number of TF coils is 14. A pair of TF coils are connected with each other by antitorque beams on the whole side surface. Vacuum vessel cassettes and associated blanket, divertor and protection walls are replaced through seven windows between TF coils pairs. Therefore each vacuum vessel cassette is required moving mechanisms in toroidal and radial directions. Options for slide mechanisms are wheels, balls, rollers and water bearings. Options for driving the cassette are self-driving by hydraulic motors and external driving by rack-pinion, wires or specific vehicles. As a result of studies, the moving mechanism with wheels and hydraulic motors has been selected for the reference design, and the system with water bearings and rack-pinion as an alternative. Furthermore typical concepts have been obtained for remote maintenance equipment such as wall-mounted manipulators, tools for

Reliable clarity automatic-evaluation method for optical remote sensing images

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Bangyong; Shang, Ren; Li, Shengyang; Hei, Baoqin; Liu, Zhiwen

2015-10-01

Image clarity, which reflects the sharpness degree at the edge of objects in images, is an important quality evaluate index for optical remote sensing images. Scholars at home and abroad have done a lot of work on estimation of image clarity. At present, common clarity-estimation methods for digital images mainly include frequency-domain function methods, statistical parametric methods, gradient function methods and edge acutance methods. Frequency-domain function method is an accurate clarity-measure approach. However, its calculation process is complicate and cannot be carried out automatically. Statistical parametric methods and gradient function methods are both sensitive to clarity of images, while their results are easy to be affected by the complex degree of images. Edge acutance method is an effective approach for clarity estimate, while it needs picking out the edges manually. Due to the limits in accuracy, consistent or automation, these existing methods are not applicable to quality evaluation of optical remote sensing images. In this article, a new clarity-evaluation method, which is based on the principle of edge acutance algorithm, is proposed. In the new method, edge detection algorithm and gradient search algorithm are adopted to automatically search the object edges in images. Moreover, The calculation algorithm for edge sharpness has been improved. The new method has been tested with several groups of optical remote sensing images. Compared with the existing automatic evaluation methods, the new method perform better both in accuracy and consistency. Thus, the new method is an effective clarity evaluation method for optical remote sensing images.

Easy and flexible mixture distributions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fosgerau, Mogens; Mabit, Stefan L.

2013-01-01

We propose a method to generate flexible mixture distributions that are useful for estimating models such as the mixed logit model using simulation. The method is easy to implement, yet it can approximate essentially any mixture distribution. We test it with good results in a simulation study...

Wearable Sensors for Remote Health Monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Majumder, Sumit; Mondal, Tapas; Deen, M Jamal

2017-01-12

Life expectancy in most countries has been increasing continually over the several few decades thanks to significant improvements in medicine, public health, as well as personal and environmental hygiene. However, increased life expectancy combined with falling birth rates are expected to engender a large aging demographic in the near future that would impose significant  burdens on the socio-economic structure of these countries. Therefore, it is essential to develop cost-effective, easy-to-use systems for the sake of elderly healthcare and well-being. Remote health monitoring, based on non-invasive and wearable sensors, actuators and modern communication and information technologies offers an efficient and cost-effective solution that allows the elderly to continue to live in their comfortable home environment instead of expensive healthcare facilities. These systems will also allow healthcare personnel to monitor important physiological signs of their patients in real time, assess health conditions and provide feedback from distant facilities. In this paper, we have presented and compared several low-cost and non-invasive health and activity monitoring systems that were reported in recent years. A survey on textile-based sensors that can potentially be used in wearable systems is also presented. Finally, compatibility of several communication technologies as well as future perspectives and research challenges in remote monitoring systems will be discussed.

Wearable Sensors for Remote Health Monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sumit Majumder

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Life expectancy in most countries has been increasing continually over the several few decades thanks to significant improvements in medicine, public health, as well as personal and environmental hygiene. However, increased life expectancy combined with falling birth rates are expected to engender a large aging demographic in the near future that would impose significant  burdens on the socio-economic structure of these countries. Therefore, it is essential to develop cost-effective, easy-to-use systems for the sake of elderly healthcare and well-being. Remote health monitoring, based on non-invasive and wearable sensors, actuators and modern communication and information technologies offers an efficient and cost-effective solution that allows the elderly to continue to live in their comfortable home environment instead of expensive healthcare facilities. These systems will also allow healthcare personnel to monitor important physiological signs of their patients in real time, assess health conditions and provide feedback from distant facilities. In this paper, we have presented and compared several low-cost and non-invasive health and activity monitoring systems that were reported in recent years. A survey on textile-based sensors that can potentially be used in wearable systems is also presented. Finally, compatibility of several communication technologies as well as future perspectives and research challenges in remote monitoring systems will be discussed.

Protein remote homology detection based on bidirectional long short-term memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Shumin; Chen, Junjie; Liu, Bin

2017-10-10

Protein remote homology detection plays a vital role in studies of protein structures and functions. Almost all of the traditional machine leaning methods require fixed length features to represent the protein sequences. However, it is never an easy task to extract the discriminative features with limited knowledge of proteins. On the other hand, deep learning technique has demonstrated its advantage in automatically learning representations. It is worthwhile to explore the applications of deep learning techniques to the protein remote homology detection. In this study, we employ the Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BLSTM) to learn effective features from pseudo proteins, also propose a predictor called ProDec-BLSTM: it includes input layer, bidirectional LSTM, time distributed dense layer and output layer. This neural network can automatically extract the discriminative features by using bidirectional LSTM and the time distributed dense layer. Experimental results on a widely-used benchmark dataset show that ProDec-BLSTM outperforms other related methods in terms of both the mean ROC and mean ROC50 scores. This promising result shows that ProDec-BLSTM is a useful tool for protein remote homology detection. Furthermore, the hidden patterns learnt by ProDec-BLSTM can be interpreted and visualized, and therefore, additional useful information can be obtained.

A Remote Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Communications Lab Utilising the Emona DATEx

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cosmas Mwikirize

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Remote labs have become popular learning aids due to their versatility and considerable ease of utilisation as compared to their physical counterparts. At Makerere University, the remote labs are based on the standard Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT iLabs Shared Architecture (ISA - a scalable and generic platform. Presented in this paper is such a lab, addressing the key practical aspects of Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS communication. The lab is built on the National Instruments Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite (NI ELVIS with the Emona Digital and Analog Telecommunications Experimenter (DATEx add-on board. It also incorporates switching hardware. The lab facilitates real-time control of the equipment, with users able to set, manipulate and observe signal parameters in both the frequency and the time domains. Simulation and data Acquisition modes of the experiment are supported to provide a richer learning experience.

Feasibility of a 2{sup nd} generation MR-compatible manipulator for transrectal prostate biopsy guidance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bomers, J.G.R.; Yakar, D. [Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Department of Radiology, route 766, P.O Box 9101, Nijmegen (Netherlands); Bosboom, D.G.H. [Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Department of Radiology, route 766, P.O Box 9101, Nijmegen (Netherlands); Soteria Medical, Arnhem (Netherlands); Tigelaar, G.H.; Sabisch, J. [Soteria Medical, Arnhem (Netherlands); Fuetterer, J.J. [Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Department of Radiology, route 766, P.O Box 9101, Nijmegen (Netherlands); University of Twente, MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine, Enschede (Netherlands)

2017-04-15

To assess the feasibility of a 2{sup nd} generation MR-compatible, remote-controlled manipulator (RCM) as an aid to perform MR-guided transrectal prostate biopsy in males with suspicion of prostate cancer (PCa). This prospective phase I study was approved by the local ethical committee and written informed consent was obtained from each patient. Twenty patients with ≥1 cancer suspicious region (CSR) with a PI-RADS score of ≥3 detected on the diagnostic multi-parametric MRI and no prior prostate treatment underwent MR-guided biopsy with the aid of the RCM. Complications were classified according to the modified Clavien system for reporting surgical complications. For evaluation of the workflow, procedure- and manipulation times were recorded. All CSR's (n=20) were reachable with the MR-compatible RCM and the cancer detection rate was 70 %. The median procedure time was 36:44 minutes (range, 23 - 61 minutes) and the median manipulation time for needle guide movement was 5:48 minutes (range, 1:15 - 18:35 minutes). Two Clavien grade 1 complications were reported. It is feasible and safe to perform transrectal MR-guided prostate biopsy using a MR-compatible RCM as an aid. It is a fast and efficient way to biopsy suspicious prostate lesions with a minimum number of biopsies per patient. (orig.)

In Praise of Manipulation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dowding, Keith; Van Hees, Martin

Many theorists believe that the manipulation of voting procedures is a serious problem. Accordingly, much of social choice theory examines the conditions under which strategy-proofness can be ensured, and what kind of procedures do a better job of preventing manipulation. This article argues that

The direct manipulation shell

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allen, M.E.; Christiansen, M.

1992-01-01

Accelerator controls systems provide parameter display pages which allow the operator to monitor and manipulate selected control points in the system. Display pages are generally implemented as either hand-crafted, purpose-built programs; or by using a specialized display page layout tool. These two methods of display page development exhibit the classic trade-off between functionality vs. ease of implementation. In the Direct Manipulation Shell we approach the process of developing a display page in a manifestly object-oriented manner. This is done by providing a general framework for interactively instantiating and manipulating display objects. (author)

Image manipulation as research misconduct.

Science.gov (United States)

Parrish, Debra; Noonan, Bridget

2009-06-01

A growing number of research misconduct cases handled by the Office of Research Integrity involve image manipulations. Manipulations may include simple image enhancements, misrepresenting an image as something different from what it is, and altering specific features of an image. Through a study of specific cases, the misconduct findings associated with image manipulation, detection methods and those likely to identify such manipulations, are discussed. This article explores sanctions imposed against guilty researchers and the factors that resulted in no misconduct finding although relevant images clearly were flawed. Although new detection tools are available for universities and journals to detect questionable images, this article explores why these tools have not been embraced.

The Manipulative Discourse of Gandalf

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farid Mohammadi

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of this essay is to investigate discursive, cognitive and social aspects of manipulation in regard to the dialogues of the literary fictional character of Gandalf in the trilogy of The Lord of the Rings. Accordingly, the researcher has taken a multidisciplinary approach to an account of discursive manipulation, and focuses on the cognitive dimensions of manipulation. As a result, the researcher demonstrates meticulously how manipulation involves intensifying the power, moral superiority and the credibility of the speaker(s, while abusing the others (recipients, along with an emotional and attractive way of expression, and supplemented by reasonable facts and documents in regard to a specific issue.

Hydraulic manipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sinha, A.K.; Srikrishnamurty, G.

1990-01-01

Successful operation of nuclear plant is largely dependent on safe handling of radio-active material. In order to reduce this handling problem and minimise the exposure of radiation, various handling equipment and manipulators have been developed according to the requirements. Manufacture of nuclear fuel, which is the most important part of the nuclear industry, involves handling of uranium ingots weighing approximately 250 kg. This paper describes a specially designed hydraulic manipulator for handling of the ingots in a limited space. It was designed to grab and handle the ingots in any position. This has following drive motions: (1)gripping and releasing, (2)lifting and lowering (z-motion), (3)rotation about the horizontal axis (azimuth drive), (4)rotation about the job axis, and (5)rotation about the vertical axis. For horizontal motion (X and Y axis motion) this equipment is mounted on a motorised trolley, so that it can move inside the workshop. For all drives except the rotation about the job axis, hydraulic cylinders have been used with a battery operated power pack. Trolley drive is also given power from same battery. This paper describes the design aspects of this manipulator. (author). 4 figs

A technique for integrating remote minicomputers into a general computer's file system

CERN Document Server

Russell, R D

1976-01-01

This paper describes a simple technique for interfacing remote minicomputers used for real-time data acquisition into the file system of a central computer. Developed as part of the ORION system at CERN, this 'File Manager' subsystem enables a program in the minicomputer to access and manipulate files of any type as if they resided on a storage device attached to the minicomputer. Yet, completely transparent to the program, the files are accessed from disks on the central system via high-speed data links, with response times comparable to local storage devices. (6 refs).

Development of a Remote Monitoring System Using Meteor Burst Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ewanic, M.A.; Dunstan, M.T.; Reichhardt, D.K.

2006-01-01

Monitoring the cleanup and closure of contaminated sites requires extensive data acquisition, processing, and storage. At remote sites, the task of monitoring often becomes problematical due to the lack of site infrastructure (i.e., electrical power lines, telephone lines, etc.). MSE Technology Applications, Inc. (MSE) has designed an economical and efficient remote monitoring system that will handle large amounts of data; process the data, if necessary; and transmit this data over long distances. Design criteria MSE considered during the development of the remote monitoring system included: the ability to handle multiple, remote sampling points with independent sampling frequencies; robust (i.e., less susceptible to moisture, heat, and cold extremes); independent of infrastructure; user friendly; economical; and easy to expand system capabilities. MSE installed and tested a prototype system at the Mike Mansfield Advanced Technology Center (MMATC), Butte, Montana, in June 2005. The system MSE designed and installed consisted of a 'master' control station and two remote 'slave' stations. Data acquired at the two slave stations were transmitted to the master control station, which then transmits a complete data package to a ground station using meteor burst technology. The meteor burst technology has no need for hardwired land-lines or man-made satellites. Instead, it uses ionized particles in the Earth's atmosphere to propagate a radio signal. One major advantage of the system is that it can be configured to accept data from virtually any type of device, so long as the signal from the device can be read and recorded by a standard data-logger. In fact, MSE has designed and built an electrical resistivity monitoring system that will be powered and controlled by the meteor burst system components. As sites move through the process of remediation and eventual closure, monitoring provides data vital to the successful long term management of the site. The remote

Method and Apparatus for Virtual Interactive Medical Imaging by Multiple Remotely-Located Users

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Muriel D. (Inventor); Twombly, Ian Alexander (Inventor); Senger, Steven O. (Inventor)

2003-01-01

A virtual interactive imaging system allows the displaying of high-resolution, three-dimensional images of medical data to a user and allows the user to manipulate the images, including rotation of images in any of various axes. The system includes a mesh component that generates a mesh to represent a surface of an anatomical object, based on a set of data of the object, such as from a CT or MRI scan or the like. The mesh is generated so as to avoid tears, or holes, in the mesh, providing very high-quality representations of topographical features of the object, particularly at high- resolution. The system further includes a virtual surgical cutting tool that enables the user to simulate the removal of a piece or layer of a displayed object, such as a piece of skin or bone, view the interior of the object, manipulate the removed piece, and reattach the removed piece if desired. The system further includes a virtual collaborative clinic component, which allows the users of multiple, remotely-located computer systems to collaboratively and simultaneously view and manipulate the high-resolution, three-dimensional images of the object in real-time.

"RMP Evaluations, Course Easiness, and Grades: Are They Related?"

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Syed A. Rizvi

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the relationship between the student evaluations of the instructors at the RateMyProfessors.com (RMP website and the average grades awarded by those instructors. As of Spring 2012, the RMP site included evaluations of 538 full-and part-time instructors at the College of Staten Island (CSI. We selected the evaluations of the 419 instructors who taught at CSI for at least two semesters from Fall 2009 to Spring 2011 and had at least ten evaluations. This research indicates that there is a strong correlation between RMP's overall evaluation and easiness scores. However, the perceived easiness of an instructor/course does not always result in higher grades for students. Furthermore, we found that the instructors who received high overall evaluation and easiness scores (4.0 to 5.0 at the RMP site do not necessarily award high grades. This is a very important finding as it disputes the argument that instructors receive high evaluations because they are easy or award high grades. On the other hand, instructors of the courses that are perceived to be difficult (RMP easiness score of 3.0 or less are likely to be tough graders. However, instructors who received moderate overall evaluation and easiness scores (between 3.0 and 4.0 the RMP site had a high correlation between these scores and average grade awarded by those instructors. Finally, our research shows that the instructors in non-STEM disciplines award higher grades than the instructors in STEM disciplines. Non-STEM instructors also received higher overall evaluations than their STEM counterparts and non-STEM courses were perceived easier by the students than STEM courses.

The use of virtual reality for preparation and implementation of JET remote handling operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanders, S.; Rolfe, A.C.

2003-01-01

The use of real time 3-D computer graphic models for preparation and support of remote handling operations on JET has been in use since the mid 1980s. A complete review has been undertaken of the functional requirements and benefits of VR for remote handling and a subsequent market survey of the present state-of-the-art of VR systems has resulted in the implementation of a new system for JET. The VR system is used in two discrete modes: in on-line mode the remote handling equipment Electro-mechanical hardware is connected to the VR system and provides input for the VR system to update a real time 3-D display of the equipment inside the torus. This mode supplements the video camera system and assists with camera control and warnings of impending or potential collisions. In Off-line mode the operator manipulates the VR system model with no connections to the remote handling equipment. This mode is used during preparation of RH operational strategies, checking of operational feasibility and operations procedures. Various VR systems were evaluated against a detailed technical specification that covered visualisation function and performance, user interface design and base model input/creation capabilities. The cheapest of those systems that satisfied the technical requirements was selected

Interpersonal relationship manipulation at a personal level

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreja Hribernik

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Manipulation is not unknown or strange to any of us. We have all experienced it, or perhaps even practiced it. It is wrong not to recognize it, to find excuses for it, and, above all, it is wrong not to decide to change one’s behaviour. Long-lasting use of manipulation leaves consequences on all the parties involved: the victim, the observer and the perpetrator. Manipulation is a relation between persons which does not consider the needs of everybody involved. It means exploitation and misleading, inhumane and unethical behaviour on the part of the manipulator, which he uses in order gain success, self-confirmation and to achieve his goals. In the act of manipulation personal boundaries of the other person are violated since the manipulator enforces his dominance and subjectedness of the victim. The manipulator invades the victim’s personal integrity, limiting their potential. He isolates, controls and intimidates them; by devises a system to catch the victims, to entangle them in his net and suck them up like a spider. If the manipulation is very successful, the other person does not recognize it as such; they consider themselves happy to be cooperating with the manipulator, as they identify his goals as their own. Therefore, the manipulator can be said to have stolen the manipulated person’s soul.

A tool for NDVI time series extraction from wide-swath remotely sensed images

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhishan; Shi, Runhe; Zhou, Cong

2015-09-01

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is one of the most widely used indicators for monitoring the vegetation coverage in land surface. The time series features of NDVI are capable of reflecting dynamic changes of various ecosystems. Calculating NDVI via Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) and other wide-swath remotely sensed images provides an important way to monitor the spatial and temporal characteristics of large-scale NDVI. However, difficulties are still existed for ecologists to extract such information correctly and efficiently because of the problems in several professional processes on the original remote sensing images including radiometric calibration, geometric correction, multiple data composition and curve smoothing. In this study, we developed an efficient and convenient online toolbox for non-remote sensing professionals who want to extract NDVI time series with a friendly graphic user interface. It is based on Java Web and Web GIS technically. Moreover, Struts, Spring and Hibernate frameworks (SSH) are integrated in the system for the purpose of easy maintenance and expansion. Latitude, longitude and time period are the key inputs that users need to provide, and the NDVI time series are calculated automatically.

Simulation of robot manipulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kress, R.L.; Babcock, S.M.; Bills, K.C.; Kwon, D.S.; Schoenwald, D.A.

1995-01-01

This paper describes Oak Ridge National Laboratory's development of an environment for the simulation of robotic manipulators. Simulation includes the modeling of kinematics, dynamics, sensors, actuators, control systems, operators, and environments. Models will be used for manipulator design, proposal evaluation, control system design and analysis, graphical preview of proposed motions, safety system development, and training. Of particular interest is the development of models for robotic manipulators having at least one flexible link. As a first application, models have been developed for the Pacific Northwest Laboratories' Flexible Beam Testbed which is a one-Degree-Of-Freedom, flexible arm with a hydraulic base actuator. Initial results show good agreement between model and experiment

The application of advanced remote systems technology to future waste handling facilities: Waste Systems Data and Development Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kring, C.T.; Herndon, J.N.; Meacham, S.A.

1987-01-01

The Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program (CFRP) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been advancing the technology in remote handling and remote maintenance of in-cell systems planned for future US nuclear fuel reprocessing plants. Much of the experience and technology developed over the past decade in this endeavor are directly applicable to the in-cell systems being considered for the facilities of the Federal Waste Management System (FWMS). The ORNL developments are based on the application of teleoperated force-reflecting servomanipulators controlled by an operator completely removed from the hazardous environment. These developments address the nonrepetitive nature of remote maintenance in the unstructured environments encountered in a waste handling facility. Employing technological advancements in dexterous manipulators, as well as basic design guidelines that have been developed for remotely maintained equipment and processes, can increase operation and maintenance system capabilities, thereby allowing the attainment of two FWMS major objectives: decreasing plant personnel radiation exposure and increasing plant availability by decreasing the mean-time-to-repair in-cell maintenance and process equipment. 5 refs., 7 figs

A six degrees of freedom mems manipulator

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Jong, B.R.

2006-01-01

This thesis reports about a six degrees of freedom (DOF) precision manipulator in MEMS, concerning concept generation for the manipulator followed by design and fabrication (of parts) of the proposed manipulation concept in MEMS. Researching the abilities of 6 DOF precision manipulation in MEMS is

A control method for manipulators with redundancy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furusho, Junji; Usui, Hiroyuki

1989-01-01

Redundant manipulators have more ability than nonredundant ones in many aspects such as avoiding obstacles, avoiding singular states, etc. In this paper, a control algorithm for redundant manipulators working under the circumstance in the presence of obstacles is presented. First, the measure of manipulability for robot manipulators under obstacle circumstances is defined. Then, the control algorithm for the obstacle avoidance is derived by using this measure of manipulability. The obstacle avoidance and the maintenance of good posture are simultaneously achieved by this algorithm. Lastly, an experiment and simulation results using an eight degree of freedom manipulator are shown. (author)

Computer control of a multi-link manipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holt, J.E.; Thiruarooran, C.

1988-01-01

The Central Electricity Generating Board has a requirement for a manipulator which can deploy to its work location around obstacles. A multilink manipulator has been designed for this purpose. A computer control system designed to ease manipulator operation is described. Using the control program, the manipulator may be deployed using just 2 joysticks. Experience in the use of the program with an inspection manipulator at Sizewell 'A' Nuclear Power Station is discussed. When used to control a manipulator of 9 hydraulically actuated degrees of freedom, a control accuracy of about 1.5% of full extension has been achieved. (author)

Dynamic Control of Kinematically Redundant Robotic Manipulators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erling Lunde

1987-07-01

Full Text Available Several methods for task space control of kinematically redundant manipulators have been proposed in the literature. Most of these methods are based on a kinematic analysis of the manipulator. In this paper we propose a control algorithm in which we are especially concerned with the manipulator dynamics. The algorithm is particularly well suited for the class of redundant manipulators consisting of a relatively small manipulator mounted on a larger positioning part.

Control issues related to bilateral teleoperation of long-reach, flexible manipulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Love, L.J.

1997-01-01

A challenging problem presently being addressed by the Department of Energy (DOE) is the extraction of large volumes of hazardous waste from underground waste storage facilities. The nature of the material requires the use of robotic and teleoperated systems. Furthermore, the constraints of the storage tanks require the use of long reach manipulators. These robots are characterized by their large workspace and reduced mass. Unfortunately, this reduction in mass increases structural compliance, making these robots susceptible to vibration. Until recently, no attempt has been made to provide the operator any type of force reflection due to the compliance of the slave robot. This paper addresses the control of bilateral teleoperation systems that use long-reach, flexible manipulators. Analysis and experiments show that the compliance of the slave robot directly affects the stability of the teleoperation system. This study suggests that this may be controlled by increasing the damping on the master robot. However, this increase in target damping increases the energy an operator must exert during the execution of a task. A new teleoperation strategy adapts the target impedance of the master robot to variations in the identified impedance of the remote environment coupled to the slave robot. Experiments show increased performance due to a decrease in the energy the operator must provide during task execution

ProteinShop: A tool for interactive protein manipulation and steering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Crivelli, Silvia; Kreylos, Oliver; Max, Nelson; Hamann, Bernd; Bethel, Wes

2004-05-25

We describe ProteinShop, a new visualization tool that streamlines and simplifies the process of determining optimal protein folds. ProteinShop may be used at different stages of a protein structure prediction process. First, it can create protein configurations containing secondary structures specified by the user. Second, it can interactively manipulate protein fragments to achieve desired folds by adjusting the dihedral angles of selected coil regions using an Inverse Kinematics method. Last, it serves as a visual framework to monitor and steer a protein structure prediction process that may be running on a remote machine. ProteinShop was used to create initial configurations for a protein structure prediction method developed by a team that competed in CASP5. ProteinShop's use accelerated the process of generating initial configurations, reducing the time required from days to hours. This paper describes the structure of ProteinShop and discusses its main features.

The Improvement of Telerobotic System Behavior in Contact with Remote Environment by Extension of an Impedance Controller

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nedim Osmic

2008-11-01

Full Text Available The teleoperation (telerobotic systems often face two key challenges: the existence of communication delays between the master and slave site as well as the addition of force feedback to improve the user’s sense of presence. The first goal of this paper is that the slave manipulator should track the position of the master manipulator and the second goal is that the environmental force acting on the slave, when it contacts a remote environment, be accurately transmitted to the master. For solving both problems we proposed the symmetric impedance matched teleoperation systems with a wave filter in feedback loop. Simulations results using a single-degree of freedom master/slave system are presented showing the performance of the resulting system.

Learning Area and Perimeter with Virtual Manipulatives

Science.gov (United States)

Bouck, Emily; Flanagan, Sara; Bouck, Mary

2015-01-01

Manipulatives are considered a best practice for educating students with disabilities, but little research exists which examines virtual manipulatives as tool for supporting students in mathematics. This project investigated the use of a virtual manipulative through the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives--polynominoes (i.e., tiles)--as a…

High precision redundant robotic manipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Young, K.K.D.

1998-01-01

A high precision redundant robotic manipulator for overcoming contents imposed by obstacles or imposed by a highly congested work space is disclosed. One embodiment of the manipulator has four degrees of freedom and another embodiment has seven degrees of freedom. Each of the embodiments utilize a first selective compliant assembly robot arm (SCARA) configuration to provide high stiffness in the vertical plane, a second SCARA configuration to provide high stiffness in the horizontal plane. The seven degree of freedom embodiment also utilizes kinematic redundancy to provide the capability of avoiding obstacles that lie between the base of the manipulator and the end effector or link of the manipulator. These additional three degrees of freedom are added at the wrist link of the manipulator to provide pitch, yaw and roll. The seven degrees of freedom embodiment uses one revolute point per degree of freedom. For each of the revolute joints, a harmonic gear coupled to an electric motor is introduced, and together with properly designed based servo controllers provide an end point repeatability of less than 10 microns. 3 figs

Bioprinting Living Biofilms through Optogenetic Manipulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yajia; Xia, Aiguo; Yang, Guang; Jin, Fan

2018-04-18

In this paper, we present a new strategy for microprinting dense bacterial communities with a prescribed organization on a substrate. Unlike conventional bioprinting techniques that require bioinks, through optogenetic manipulation, we directly manipulated the behaviors of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to allow these living bacteria to autonomically form patterned biofilms following prescribed illumination. The results showed that through optogenetic manipulation, patterned bacterial communities with high spatial resolution (approximately 10 μm) could be constructed in 6 h. Thus, optogenetic manipulation greatly increases the range of available bioprinting techniques.

The Immersive Virtual Reality Lab: Possibilities for Remote Experimental Manipulations of Autonomic Activity on a Large Scale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joshua Juvrud

2018-05-01

Full Text Available There is a need for large-scale remote data collection in a controlled environment, and the in-home availability of virtual reality (VR and the commercial availability of eye tracking for VR present unique and exciting opportunities for researchers. We propose and provide a proof-of-concept assessment of a robust system for large-scale in-home testing using consumer products that combines psychophysiological measures and VR, here referred to as a Virtual Lab. For the first time, this method is validated by correlating autonomic responses, skin conductance response (SCR, and pupillary dilation, in response to a spider, a beetle, and a ball using commercially available VR. Participants demonstrated greater SCR and pupillary responses to the spider, and the effect was dependent on the proximity of the stimuli to the participant, with a stronger response when the spider was close to the virtual self. We replicated these effects across two experiments and in separate physical room contexts to mimic variability in home environment. Together, these findings demonstrate the utility of pupil dilation as a marker of autonomic arousal and the feasibility to assess this in commercially available VR hardware and support a robust Virtual Lab tool for massive remote testing.

The Immersive Virtual Reality Lab: Possibilities for Remote Experimental Manipulations of Autonomic Activity on a Large Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Juvrud, Joshua; Gredebäck, Gustaf; Åhs, Fredrik; Lerin, Nils; Nyström, Pär; Kastrati, Granit; Rosén, Jörgen

2018-01-01

There is a need for large-scale remote data collection in a controlled environment, and the in-home availability of virtual reality (VR) and the commercial availability of eye tracking for VR present unique and exciting opportunities for researchers. We propose and provide a proof-of-concept assessment of a robust system for large-scale in-home testing using consumer products that combines psychophysiological measures and VR, here referred to as a Virtual Lab. For the first time, this method is validated by correlating autonomic responses, skin conductance response (SCR), and pupillary dilation, in response to a spider, a beetle, and a ball using commercially available VR. Participants demonstrated greater SCR and pupillary responses to the spider, and the effect was dependent on the proximity of the stimuli to the participant, with a stronger response when the spider was close to the virtual self. We replicated these effects across two experiments and in separate physical room contexts to mimic variability in home environment. Together, these findings demonstrate the utility of pupil dilation as a marker of autonomic arousal and the feasibility to assess this in commercially available VR hardware and support a robust Virtual Lab tool for massive remote testing.

Development and use of a remote waste handling system for disposal of greater confinement wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, R.E.

1985-01-01

This paper discusses the design and development of a remotely controlled waste handling system (RWHS) for use in radioactive waste disposal operations. A RWHS was developed at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Nevada Test Site for use in the Greater Confinement Disposal Test (GCDT). The RWHS consists of a remote control console and the following remotely operated features: a crane, a grapple/manipulator module which is suspended by the crane hoist hook, and closed-circuit television cameras. The RWHS was used to safely place high-specific-activity radioactive waste in greater confinement disposal. Between December 15, 1983, and February 23, 1984, five encapsulated sources were open-air transferred from shielded shipping casks and placed 30 m down a 3-m-dia augered shaft using the RWHS. These sources contained approximately 460 kCi of 90 Sr, 21 kCi of 137 Cs, and 390 Ci of 60 Co. Each source was transferred safely and efficiently and operational personnel did not receive any recordable doses. 3 references, 5 figures

Attraction behaviour of Anagrus nilaparvatae to remote lemongrass (Cymbopogon distans) oil and its volatile compounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, Guo-Feng; Mo, Xiao-Chang; Fouad, Hatem; Abbas, Ghulam; Mo, Jian-Chu

2018-03-01

Utilisation of Anagrus nilaparvatae is a promising and effective method for planthoppers manipulation. Twenty-seven components of remote lemongrass (Cymbopogon distans) oil were identified by GC/MS and nine volatiles were selected for behavioural experiments. In this study, we noted that the remote lemongrass oil was attractive to female A. nilaparvatae at concentrations of 0.1 and 1 mg/L. α-Pinene, β-pinene, eucalyptol, carveol and D-carvone attracted female wasps in the dose-dependent bioassays. Blend 1 (a mixture of eucalyptol, D-carvone, carveol, α-pinene, and β-pinene with ratios of remote lemongrass oil volatiles of 625:80:11:5:3) attracted female wasps at 10 mg/L, while blend 2 (a mixture of the same five volatiles at the same loading ratio) attracted them at 0.1 and 1 mg/L. These results suggested that plant essential oils could be attractants for natural enemies to control pests. The ratios of volatiles in the mixtures affect the attractiveness of the synthetic mixtures.

Master-slave-manipulator 'EMSM I'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koehler, G.W.; Salaske, M.