Duct entry robots for the characterisation of Nuclear facilities

我的项目是设计一个地面机器人，以检查只能通过直径125毫米的入口进入的核设施。该任务要求机器人通过访问端口进入或被进入核设施，然后在内部捕获传感数据并最终从设施中移除。重要的是，机器人的污染应保持在最低限度，其使用不会导致放射性物质的扩散。出于这个原因，许多明显的解决方案，如无人机和履带式车辆已被建议反对。一个折叠的“变形轮”机器人目前正在开发中，并将进一步发展之前，被评估对其他设计。机器人必须由设施外部的操作员控制，该操作员将没有机器人的直接视线，因此，具有一定程度自动化的遥操作将用于执行表征。虽然该项目旨在研究和实施未来的技术，但核退役行业目前在技术方法上相当保守，因此需要仔细开发控制系统，特别是自动化系统，并与塞拉菲尔德合作，以确保强大的流程和法规合规性。在3年的时间里，该项目将包括要求和基准分析，原型和机械设计，遥操作，自动化，设计评估和用户研究。

My project is the design of a ground-based robot to characterise nuclear facilities that are only accessible through 125mm diameter access ports. The task requires for a robot to enter or be entered into a nuclear facility through an access port, before capturing sensory data inside and eventually being removed from the facility. It is important that contamination of the robot is kept to a minimum and that its use does not lead to the spread of radioactive material. For this reason, many obvious solutions such as drones and tracked vehicles have been advised against. A folding 'morphing wheg' robot is currently in development and will be further developed before being evaluated against other designs. The robot must be controlled by an operator outside of the facility who will have no direct line of sight of the robot, for this reason teleoperation with a degree of automation will be used to carry out the characterisation. While the project aims to research and implement future technologies, the Nuclear decommissioning industry is currently quite conservative in its approach to technology, consequently control systems and especially automation will need to be developed carefully and with the input of Sellafield to ensure robust processes and regulatory compliance.Over the course of the 3 years, the project will encompass the Requirements and Benchmarking analysis, Prototyping and Mechanical Design, Teleoperation, Automation, Design Evaluation and User studies.