Centrala begrepp
A novel hybrid robot combines the flexibility of a soft eversion robot with the precision of a continuum robot at its tip, enabling controlled steering and movement in hard-to-access nuclear environments for remote decontamination tasks.
Sammanfattning
This paper introduces a hybrid continuum-eversion robot designed to address challenges in navigating and operating within pipe networks and enclosed remote vessels in nuclear environments. The robot combines the flexibility of a soft eversion robot with the precision of a continuum robot at its tip, allowing for controlled steering and movement.
The key highlights are:
- The hybrid robot design enables selective steering through a series of servos controlling the continuum robot tip, providing 3 degrees of freedom.
- The robot can deliver sensors, liquids, and aerosols to remote areas, supporting remote decontamination activities in nuclear facilities.
- Experimental evaluation demonstrates the robot's ability to precisely spray liquids and aerosols, with over 95% success in precision spraying tests.
- The hybrid robot design offers advantages over traditional rigid or flexible robots, enabling navigation through complex environments with greater ease.
- Future work includes improving the sealing methods, reducing the robot's footprint, and integrating computer vision and feedback systems to enhance remote operation capabilities.
Overall, this novel hybrid robot showcases significant potential as a solution for remote decontamination operations in the nuclear industry.
Statistik
The robot achieved over 95% success in precision spraying tests on a 6x10 grid.
The robot was able to spray water to extinguish a candle in a simulated scenario.
The robot successfully sprayed expanding foam to cover the walls of a model glove box.
Citat
"The hybrid robot combines the flexibility of a soft eversion robot with the precision of a continuum robot at its tip, allowing for controlled steering and movement in hard to access and/or complex environments."
"The design enables the delivery of sensors, liquids, and aerosols to remote areas, supporting remote decontamination activities."
"The experiments reveal successful outcomes, with over 95% success in precision spraying tests."