Control and applications of cooperating disparate robotic manipulators relevant to waste management

Conference · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1990 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA)

OSTI ID:6020745

Lew, J Y; Book, W J ^[1]

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1. Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta (USA)

Remote handling in nuclear waste management requires a robotic system with precise motion as well as a large work space. The concept of a small arm mounted on the end of a large arm may satisfy such needs. The performance of such a serial configuration, however, lacks payload capacity, which is a crucial factor for handling a massive object. This configuration also induces more flexibility on the structure and requires a more complicated control scheme to eliminate its residual vibrations. To overcome these problems, bracing the tip of the small arm (not the large arm) on a stationary frame is considered. By forming a closed kinematic chain, bracing increases structural stiffness and payload capacity. This crane-human configuration may be analogous to the topology of bracing at the top of the small arm and having an end effector at the middle of the chain. Thus, the large arm does the precise positioning of a human. This topology gives motivation to develop a coordination strategy for disparate large and small robotic manipulators. In the Flexible Automation Laboratory at Georgia Institute of Technology, a large experimental arm, designated RALF (Robotic Arm, Large and Flexible), has been constructed and placed under computer control. Also, a small experimental arm, SAM (Small Articulated Manipulator), has been constructed and is being tested under single joint control. SAM will be mounted on the end of RALF. Experimental studies are scheduled to verify the feasibility of the proposed concepts.

• OSTI ID: 6020745
• Report Number(s): CONF-901101--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA) Journal Volume: 62
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052001* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Processing
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
42 ENGINEERING
420203 -- Engineering-- Handling Equipment & Procedures
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
990200 -- Mathematics & Computers
ACCURACY
COMPUTERIZED CONTROL SYSTEMS
CONTROL SYSTEMS
CRANES
EQUIPMENT
LABORATORY EQUIPMENT
MAN-MACHINE SYSTEMS
MANAGEMENT
MANIPULATORS
MATERIALS HANDLING EQUIPMENT
MOTION
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
POSITIONING
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
REMOTE HANDLING EQUIPMENT
ROBOTS
VERIFICATION
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING