Innovative technology summary report: Houdini{trademark} I and II remotely operated vehicle

Technical Report · Wed Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1998

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/665927· OSTI ID:665927

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for cleaning up and closing 273 large, aging, underground tanks the department has used for storing approximately 1 million gal of high- and low-level radioactive and mixed waste. The waste`s radioactivity precludes humans from working in the tanks. A remote-controlled retrieval method must be used. The Houdini robot addresses the need for vehicle-based, rugged, remote manipulation systems that can perform waste retrieval, characterization, and inspection tasks. Houdini-I was delivered to ORNL in September 1996, deployed in a cold test facility in November, and first deployed in the gunite tanks in June 1997. Since then, it has seen continuous (still on-going) service at ORNL, providing a critical role in the cleanup of two gunite tanks, W-3 and W-4, in the GAAT NTF. Houdini-I has proven rugged, capable of waste retrieval, and able to withstand high reaction force operations such as wall core sampling. It`s even able to operate while hanging, which was the case when Houdini was used to cut and remove cables and steel pipes hanging below manways in Tank W-3. Based upon the lessons learned at ORNL, Houdini`s design has been completely overhauled. A second generation system, Houdini-II, is now being built.

• Research Organization: Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management, Washington, DC (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management, Washington, DC (United States)
• OSTI ID: 665927
• Report Number(s): DOE/EM--0368; ON: DE98007484; NC: NONE
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
42 ENGINEERING
CABLES
CUTTING
DESIGN
ORNL
PIPES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
REMEDIAL ACTION
REMOTE HANDLING EQUIPMENT
ROBOTS