System safety analysis of an autonomous mobile robot

Technical Report · Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10170290· OSTI ID:10170290

Bartos, R J

Analysis of the safety of operating and maintaining the Stored Waste Autonomous Mobile Inspector (SWAMI) II in a hazardous environment at the Fernald Environmental Management Project (FEMP) was completed. The SWAMI II is a version of a commercial robot, the HelpMate{trademark} robot produced by the Transitions Research Corporation, which is being updated to incorporate the systems required for inspecting mixed toxic chemical and radioactive waste drums at the FEMP. It also has modified obstacle detection and collision avoidance subsystems. The robot will autonomously travel down the aisles in storage warehouses to record images of containers and collect other data which are transmitted to an inspector at a remote computer terminal. A previous study showed the SWAMI II has economic feasibility. The SWAMI II will more accurately locate radioactive contamination than human inspectors. This thesis includes a System Safety Hazard Analysis and a quantitative Fault Tree Analysis (FTA). The objectives of the analyses are to prevent potentially serious events and to derive a comprehensive set of safety requirements from which the safety of the SWAMI II and other autonomous mobile robots can be evaluated. The Computer-Aided Fault Tree Analysis (CAFTA{copyright}) software is utilized for the FTA. The FTA shows that more than 99% of the safety risk occurs during maintenance, and that when the derived safety requirements are implemented the rate of serious events is reduced to below one event per million operating hours. Training and procedures in SWAMI II operation and maintenance provide an added safety margin. This study will promote the safe use of the SWAMI II and other autonomous mobile robots in the emerging technology of mobile robotic inspection.

• Research Organization: Fernald Environmental Restoration Management Corp., Cincinnati, OH (United States). Fernald Environmental Management Project
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-92OR21972
• OSTI ID: 10170290
• Report Number(s): FEMP-2341; CONF-9407104-1; ON: DE94015815; BR: 35EW00000/35EW20100; TRN: 94:015466
• Resource Relation: Conference: 12. international system safety conference,New Orleans, LA (United States),5-10 Jul 1994; Other Information: PBD: [1994]
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
OHIO
FEED MATERIALS PRODUCTION CENTER
STORAGE FACILITIES
INSPECTION
ROBOTS
SAFETY ANALYSIS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
REMEDIAL ACTION
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
ELECTRONIC GUIDANCE
RISK ASSESSMENT
REMOTE VIEWING EQUIPMENT
DESIGN
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
420203
054000
052002
HANDLING EQUIPMENT AND PROCEDURES
HEALTH AND SAFETY
WASTE DISPOSAL AND STORAGE