Search

The considered simulation tasks are based on an electrometallurgical process development strategy and associated telemanipulator simulation systems are proposed with various scales of experimental facilities. Fundamentally, target facilities are assumed to be operated only by remote handling systems because the considered process is operated in hazardous environments. Futhermore, the feasibility at various scales should be experimentally verified with gradual increase in throughput. In this regard, bench, engineering, and pilot-scale simulation systems are important early-stage tools for assessing the practical operability of the target process with the material handling systems. Such simulation systems are highly customized for applications and are a precursor to larger pilot and demonstration-scale plants. This paper introduced and classified the developed simulator systems for this approach at various scales using remote handling systems which were assembled inside a virtual target facility, and the man-machine interface was included for a more realistic operation of the simulator. The results obtained for each simulator show the feasibility and requirement for improvement of the systems for the considered test issues with respect to the operation and maintenance of the process. Keywords: Telemanipulator, Remote handling system, Autonomous teleoperation system, Hardware In the Loop Simulation (HILS), Virtual Reality (VR), Confined cell facility

Pyroprocessing uses various molten salts during electrochemical unit processes. Reaction products after the electrochemical processes must contain a significant amount of residual salts to be separated. Vacuum distillation is a common method to separate the residual salts; however, its high operation temperature may cause side reactions. In this study, a simple rotation technique using centrifugal force was suggested to separate the residual salts from the reaction products at relatively low temperature compared to the distillation technique. When a reaction product container with porous wall rotates inside a vessel heated above the melting point of the residual salt, the residual salt in the liquid phase is separated through centrifugal force. It was shown that the LiNO3-Al2O3 mixture can be separated by this technique to leave solid Al2O3 inside the container, with a separation efficiency of 99.4%. Keywords: Pyroprocessing, Molten salt, Salt separation, Liquid-solid separation, Centrifugal force

SUMMARYIn contrast to general industrial robots, which are operated in normal environments and are easily accessible by human workers, telemanipulators are typically designed to perform specific and extreme tasks in hazardous areas. Teleoperation systems are difficult-to-equip fully intuitive or automated control systems because these are the kinds of manipulator systems used as substitutes to perform tasks that humans have to guide directly because they may require tough, sensitive, or sophisticated handling motions. Basically, these kinds of tasks are difficult to remotely perform through a slave manipulator operated by a human unless modification and optimization of the system are conducted. In this regard, the target system dealt within this study has similar disadvantages even though it has a high degree of freedom (DOF) arm structure. The performance of the current system was quantitatively evaluated to optimize the structure according to the considered main tasks. This work presents the various performance indices utilized and analyzes the current design of the considered telemanipulator system. An optimal design approach using the parameters associated with the frequent motions of the considered 6-DOF telemanipulator is then proposed based on the conducted analyses.

원자력 발전 이후에 누적되는 사용후핵연료를 해소하기 위한 다양한 연구가 시도되고 있으며, 특히 건식으로 사용후핵연료 를 재활용하는 파이로 공정이 주목되고 있다. 파이로 공정의 공학규모 실증을 위하여 대형 공정셀을 구비한 PRIDE 시설이 구축되었다. 파이로 공정에 사용되는 용융염의 화학반응성을 고려하여, 공정셀 내부는 아르곤 분위기를 유지한다. 결과적으 로, 작업자가 공정셀 내부에 진입할 수 없으며, 공정셀 내부에 설치된 모든 공정장치는 원격수단에 의해 공정셀 밖에서 원격 조작을 통해 수행한다. 따라서, 공정셀에 설치되는 공정장치는, 설계단계에서 부터 원격작업을 고려하여 설계되어야 하며, 공정셀에 반입하기 전에 원격으로 작동이 가능한지 철저히 검증하여야 한다. 만약, 공정셀에 반입되어 작동하는 단계에서 문제가 발생하는 경우, 장치를 반출하여 수정한 후 재반입하기까지 많은 비용과 시간을 허비하게 된다. 공정장치의 원격성 검증을 위하여, 물리적인 목업을 사용할 뿐 아니라, 설계단계에서 3D 모델을 활용한 가상 검증이 가능하다. 본 연구는, 가상공간에 PRIDE 공정셀을 구성하고, 설계된 공정장치 3D 모델을 입력하여, 원격조작성을 검증하기 위한 PRIDE 3D 시뮬레이터 개발에 관한 것이다. 실제 PRIDE 공정셀의 형상과 공정셀에 설치되는 원격운전 및 유지보수 장치의 움직임을 가상공간에 구현하고, 공정장치의 3D 모델을 실제 설치할 장소에 위치할 수 있도록 하였다. PRIDE 공정셀에 설치 될 전해공정장치의 전극교체 작업을 시뮬레이션 시나리오로 설정하여, 개발된 PRIDE 3D 시뮬레이터의 사용성을 검증하고 자 하였다. 8단계로 이루어진 원격작업 시나리오를 구성하여, 각 단계의 원격작업을 성공적으로 모사함으로써, PRIDE 공정 셀의 원격성 평가를 성공적으로 수행하였다.

In the nuclear industry, mechanical engineers spend a significant portion of their time designing equipment such as manipulators, bogies, mechanical grippers, and so on. Some customized designs can be considered as standard mechanical equipment in this area, although it is not unusual to find that an existing design cannot simply be copied from one project to another. Varied performance requirements can dictate that redesign, often quite extensive redesign, is required. However, if something similar has been done before, engineers could use that as a starting point for the new project. In this regard, this study presents several guidelines inspired by previous design knowledge for similar development cases. Moreover, this study presents more detailed suggestions such as design guidelines for an argon-based hot cell atmosphere and design experience for a large-scale practical hot cell facility. Design considerations and case studies dealt with in this study are dedicated to teleoperation manipulators that are used at a large-scale argon cell facility for pyroprocess integrated inactive demonstration (PRIDE), at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. In particular, for case studies to support the suggested recommendations, a fabricated telemanipulator system for PRIDE is introduced, and several kinds of experimental results associated with it are presented.

Tendon-driven mechanisms are adopted in remote handling manipulators to reduce the weight of the distal parts of the manipulator while maintaining the handling performance. This study considered several approaches to the design of a gripper system for telemanipulators. According to the requirements of the specified tendon-driven mechanism, the connecting position of the spring system on the gripper mechanism was obtained, and kinematic influence coefficient analysis was performed to select the proper spring stiffness. The results showed that the tension force generated by the selected spring module is relatively constant in the gripper’s motion range; the spring module is advantageous for the semi-automatic gripper motion of servo-based tendon-driven manipulators performed in non-accessible experimental facilities which handles many types of sensitive measuring devices with hazardous materials. The motion performance of the proposed gripper module was comparatively verified with a commercialized gripper system which has similar specifications. Additionally, an eye-in-hand camera was also designed to obtain an active-view through a gripper for efficient teleoperation. This gripper system uses a modular-type camera head that can be changed remotely and a proper camera angle to achieve an intuitive view of the remote site. The designed camera system was tested in a large-scale confined cell facility remotely and verified the practical usability for remote handling manipulators.

The Advanced spent fuel Conditioning Process Facility (ACPF) at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has recently been successfully renovated. One of the highlights of this renovation project was the installation of a small argon compartment within the atmospheric hot cell of the facility. Even though a crane system was considered necessary for the remote handling of the processing equipment inside the argon compartment, no suitable commercial cranes were available. This was because a limited amount of space had been reserved for the installation of the crane. Moreover, a master-slave manipulator (MSM), the only available means of maintenance of the crane, was unable to reach it in the limited workspace. To address the difficulties in the design of this crane, in this study, a remote actuation mechanism is devised where the mechanical and electrical parts of the crane system are separated, positioned far away from each other, and connected through power transmission shafts. This approach has two main advantages. First, the electrical parts can be placed inside the workspace of the MSM, hence allowing for remote maintenance. Second, the space occupied by the electrical parts and their cables, which are separate from the crane in the proposed design, can be considered and exploited in designing the mechanical parts of the crane. This enables the construction of a short, special crane in order to maximize the workspace. Furthermore, the mechanical parts for the MSM located outside the workspace are designed to possess a high safety margin to ensure durability. An accurate servo-control system is also developed based on absolute positioning measurement. This allows for the safer performance of perform through automatic operation.

Constipation is a common problem in males and females. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the laxative effects of fermented rice extract (FRe) on rats with loperamide-induced constipation. FRe (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg) was administered orally once per day for six days following 1 h loperamide treatment. The laxative effects of FRe were compared with those of sodium picosulfate (S. picosulfate). Following the induction of constipation in the rats, a marked decrease was observed in the fecal pellet number and water content discharged over 24 h, the surface mucus thickness in the colonic lumen, intestinal charcoal transit ratio, thickness of the colonic mucosa and the number of mucus-producing cells, while an increase was observed in the number of fecal pellets remaining in the colonic lumen and their mean diameter, as compared with the normal vehicle control rats. These conditions were significantly alleviated following the administration of the three doses of FRe when compared with the loperamide control group. However, the alleviating effects were lower than those of S. picosulfate, with the exception of the intestinal charcoal transit ratio. Similar effects on the intestinal charcoal transit ratio were detected for the three doses of FRe when compared with the S. picosulfate-treated rats. In conclusion, the results indicated that FRe exhibits a laxative effect without causing diarrhea, as compared with sodium picosulfate; thus, FRe may be effective as a complementary medicine in patients suffering from lifestyle-induced constipation.

The present study was performed to evaluate the laxative effects of fermented rice extract (FRe) in normal rats. FRe was orally administered at doses of 100, 200, and 300 mg/kg once per day for 15 days, and the changes in fecal parameters (fecal pellet numbers, weights, and water contents), gastrointestinal transit ratio, fecal mucus contents, colonic mucus-producing cell numbers, and mean colonic mucosa thicknesses were examined in normal rats. The laxative effects of FRe were compared with those of sodium picosulfate. At the three doses administered, FRe treatment resulted in marked increases in fecal pellet numbers and water contents discharged over 24 h, surface mucus thickness in the colonic lumen, intestinal charcoal-transit ratio, and in thickness and mucus-producing goblet cell number of the colonic mucosa with decreases in fecal pellet numbers and mean diameters remaining in the colonic lumen in comparison to the vehicle control. With the exception of intestinal charcoal-transit ratio, the effects of FRe were less marked than those of sodium picosulfate. The results of this study suggest that FRe has a laxative effect without causing diarrhea, as compared with sodium picosulfate, and FRe may be highly effective as a complementary medicine in humans suffering from lifestyle-induced constipation.

In this study, remote handling strategies for a large-scale argon cell facility were considered. The suggested strategies were evaluated by several types of field test. The teleoperation tasks were performed using a developed remote handling system, which enabled traveling over entire cell area using a bridge transport system. Each arm of the system had six DOFs (degrees of freedom), and the bridge transport system had four DOFs. However, despite the dexterous manipulators and redundant monitoring system, many operators, including professionals, experienced difficulties in operating the remote handling system. This was because of the lack of a strategy for handling the installed camera system, and the difficulty in recognizing the gripper pose, which might fall outside the FOV (field of vision) of the system during teleoperation. Hence, in this paper, several considerations for the remote handling tasks performed in the target facility were discussed, and the tasks were analyzed based on ergonomic factors such as the workload. Toward the development of a successful operation strategy, several ergonomic issues, such as active/passive view of the remote handling system, eye/hand alignment, and FOV were considered. Furthermore, using the method for classifying remote handling tasks, several unit tasks were defined and evaluated.

It was evaluated the synergistic effects of fermented rice extracts (FRe) on the laxative and probiotic effects of yogurt in normal rats. Commercial liquid yogurt (Bulgaris™) containing 0.05%, 0.10%, and 1.0% FRe (BFRe) was administered orally to normal rats daily for 10 days. Compared with the vehicle control, the three BFRe treatments exhibited highly significant increases in fecal pellet numbers, water content, thickness of surface mucous in the colonic lumen, intestinal charcoal transit ratio, thickness of the colonic mucosa, and mucous-producing goblet cells; decreased numbers and mean diameters of fecal pellets remaining in the colonic lumen were detected compared with the vehicle control, and numbers of viable Lactobacilli in cecum contents and feces were dramatically higher than those in vehicle control rats. More favorable probiotic and laxative effects were detected in rats treated with 0.1% and 1.0% BFRe compared with equal doses of liquid yogurt or FRe alone. Therefore, appropriate concentrations of BFRe may be highly effective for alleviating constipation and provide a complementary natural approach to reducing lifestyleinduced constipation.

Aim. The objective was to evaluate the synergistic effects of fermented rice extracts (FRe) on the laxative and probiotic properties of yoghurt in rats with loperamide-induced constipation. Methods. After constipation induction, yoghurt containing FRe (BFRe; 0.05%, 0.1%, or 1%) was administered orally once per day for 6 days.Results. Loperamide treatment caused marked decreases in fecal pellet numbers and water content discharged, as well as in the surface mucosal thickness of the colonic lumen, intestinal charcoal transit ratio, thickness, and number of mucous-producing goblet cells in the colonic mucosa, whereas it increased the remnant fecal pellet number and the mean diameter of the colonic lumen. However, this loperamide-induced constipation was ameliorated by treatment with FRe, yoghurt single formula, or 0.05%, 0.1%, or 1% BFRe (10 mL/kg). Additionally, the viable numbers ofLactobacillusin the cecal contents and feces were markedly higher than those in constipated rats. Moreover, greater probiotic and laxative effects were detected in BFRe-treated rats than in rats treated with equivalent doses of yoghurt or FRe single formula.Conclusion. The results suggest that addition of FRe to liquid yoghurt will enhance the probiotic and beneficial laxative effects of yoghurt in the digestive tract, without causing side effects.

Objective: The aim of this study is ergonomic analysis of tele-operation tasks using modified remote handling devices dedicated to the cell of PRIDE(PyRoprocess Integrated inactive DEmonstration facility) in KAERI(Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute). Background: Tele-operation manipulators of the PRIDE are applied to perform the remote handling and management of pyroprocessing facilities. Generally, these kinds of systems are composed of master-slave system and its peripherals installed along a wall or ceiling of the cell, and the manipulators transmit the user's own motion to grippers directly. However, a user convenience and intuitiveness while operating the manipulators have not been fully considered in research fields. Method: This study tries to analyze the ergonomic performance of remote handling manipulators in the developed cell facility. It was included that the analysis of operator's capability for his/her own motion range of upper arm while manipulating the MSM, considerations of its manipulation margin and related tool modifications to improve the remote handling performance. Conclusion: The test results of several remote handling tasks performed in PRIDE are represented, and adequate operation strategies for the tele-operation system of hot-cell type facilities are proposed. Application: The knowledge represented in this study can be utilized to improve a tele-operation system operated in a large-scale hot-cell system.

In this work, an on-the-move (OTM) antenna which is mounted on ground vehicles and is used for communication between vehicle and satellite was studied. Since vehicles move during communication, active antenna line-of-sight (LOS) stabilization is a core technology to guarantee satellite communication quality. Stabilization control of the antenna LOS which is driven by a motor coupled with gears and flexible driving shafts was investigated. In consideration of the finite stiffness of the shaft and disturbance torque due to vehicle motion coupled with gear ratio, a stabilization control is proposed. The proposed control is based on an integral sliding mode method (SMC). Since this SMC is robust and chatter free, it gives fine stabilization performance and is easy to implement without consideration of wear and tear on actuators. The feasibility of the proposed control design was verified along with some simulation results.

A bridge-transported bilateral master–slave servo manipulator system called the Bridge-Transported Dual-Arm Servo-Manipulator (BDSM) was developed for remote manipulation at the Pyroprocess Integrated Inactive Demonstration (PRIDE) facility. Its many innovative design concepts include a motion-decoupled, cable-drive mechanism, fully counterbalanced linkage structure, and interface system for easy attachment/detachment of the arms during remote maintenance. In addition, the manipulator is mounted at the end of a novel redundant-drive extensible telescopic boom with a synchronized compact cabling management system. The BDSM is currently installed in the Remote Handling Evaluation Mock-up (RHEM), where it has successfully completed operating tests with a remote control system incorporating a bilateral force-reflection controller. Good tracking performance was confirmed regardless of the payload, allowing highly transparent control. The system is thus expected to achieve its design goals in dexterous remote handling tasks in PRIDE. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Various culture conditions for the production of fermented whey presenting bifidogenic growth stimulator (BGS) activity were evaluated using Leuconostoc mesenteroides CJNU 0147 and Lactobacillus casei CJNU 0588. The BGS activity of fermented whey produced with mixed culture of Leu. mesenteroides CJNU 0147 and L. Casei CJNU 0588 was higher than those of single cultures. The optimal temperature for the production of the fermented whey was 20°C. The anaerobic culture conditions via nitrogen gas supply had no influence on the BGS activity of fermented whey. The BGS activity of the heat-treated fermented whey samples was slightly decreased by 7.63, 11.66, and 15.12% at 80, 100, and 121°C, respectively for 15 min. Pilot-scale (75 L) fermented whey was produced using the 2 freeze-dried cell powders of CJNU 0147 and CJNU 0588 and spray-dried. The spray-dried fermented whey presented BGS activity, indicating it can be used as a functional food material.

In this paper, we propose a simultaneous intrinsic and extrinsic parameter identification of a hand-mounted laser-vision sensor (HMLVS). A laser-vision sensor (LVS), consisting of a camera and a laser stripe projector, is used as a sensor component of the robotic measurement system, and it measures the range data with respect to the robot base frame using the robot forward kinematics and the optical triangulation principle. For the optimal estimation of the model parameters, we applied two optimization techniques: a nonlinear least square optimizer and a particle swarm optimizer. Best-fit parameters, including both the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters of the HMLVS, are simultaneously obtained based on the least-squares criterion. From the simulation and experimental results, it is shown that the parameter identification problem considered was characterized by a highly multimodal landscape, thus, the global optimization technique such as a particle swarm optimization can be a promising tool to identify the model parameters for a HMLVS, while the nonlinear least square optimizer often failed to find an optimal solution even when the initial candidate solutions were selected close to the true optimum. The proposed optimization method does not require good initial guesses of the system parameters to converge at a very stable solution and it could be applied to a kinematically dissimilar robot system without loss of generality.

In this work, a bilateral control for a master-slave manipulator system which will be used for handling objects contaminated by radioactivity has been addressed. The links of manipulators are driven independently by individual motors installed on the base and the driving torque is transmitted through pre-tensioned tendons. The measurable variables are the positions and rates of master/slave motors. In the consideration of the flexibility of the power transmission tendon and available measurements for control, we proposed an optimal static output feedback control for possible bilateral control architecture. The system model is reduced to guarantee the controllability and observability which are necessity for the static output feedback control by using modal analysis. Based on the reduced model, the control gains are determined to attenuate vibration in the sense of optimality. The feasibility of the proposed control design was verified along with some simulation results.

Acinetobacter sp. SMIC-1, Cupriavidus sp. SMIC-2, Pseudomonas sp. SMIC-3, Paracoccus sp. SMIC-4, and Pseudomonas sp. SMIC-5 capable of mineralizing xenobiotics (manmade organic compounds) that are diethyleneglycol monomethyleher (DGMME), 1-amino-2-propanol (APOL), 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP), diethyleneglycol monoethylether (DGMEE), tetraethyleneglycol (TEG) and tetrahydrothiophene 1,1-dioxide (Sulfolane) were immobilized mixedly in polyethyleneglycol carrier (SMIC-PEG). TGGE technique was employed to analyze variation of the immobilized bacterial community during xenobiotics being mineralized. The SMIC-PEG mineralized more than 95% of the xenobiotics except sulfolane in 6 days. When activated sludge (AS) was co-immobilized with SMIC community in PEG carrier (AS-SMIC-PEG), degradation efficiency of DGMEE, NPM was a little decreased; however, the degradation of other xenobiotics was neither increased nor decreased significantly. The bacterial community diversity in the SMIC-PEG was gradually decreased in proportion to incubation time in a batch cultivation reactor. SMIC strains in AS-SMIC-PEG were substituted by other bacterial community after 6 days of incubation time in batch cultivation reactor. The SMIC-PEG mineralized around 90% of xenobiotics in a continuous pilot reactor when 100 or 200 mg/L of xenobiotics was fed for 8 hr of hydraulic retention time (HRT); however, the mineralization efficiency was decreased significantly to around 75% when 200 mg/L of xenobiotics was fed for 4 hr of HRT. The mineralization effect of AS-SMIC-PEG for xenobiotics was lower than SMIC-PEG. Bacterial community diversity in both SMIC-PEG and AS-SMIC-EG was decreased in proportion to operation time in the continuous pilot reactor; however, some of them were maintained during operation for more than 50 days.

Five bacterial species, capable of degrading the recalcitrant organic compounds (ROCs) diethyleneglycol monomethylether (DGMME), 1-amino-2-propanol (APOL), 1-methyl-2- pyrrolidinone (NMP), diethyleneglycol monoethylether (DGMEE), tetraethyleneglycol (TEG), and tetrahydrothiophene 1,1-dioxide (sulfolane), were isolated from an enrichment culture. Cupriavidus sp. catabolized 93.5+/-1.7 mg/l of TEG, 99.3+/-1.2 mg/l of DGMME, 96.1+/-1.6mg/l of APOL, and 99.5+/-0.5mg/l of NMP in 3 days. Acineobacter sp. catabolized 100 mg/l of DGMME, 99.9+/-0.1 mg/l of NMP, and 100 mg/l of DGMEE in 3 days. Pseudomonas sp.3 catabolized 95.7+/-1.2 mg/l of APOL and 99.8+/-0.3 mg/l of NMP. Paracoccus sp. catabolized 98.3+/-0.6 mg/l of DGMME and 98.3+/-1.0 mg/l of DGMEE in 3 days. A maximum 43+/-2.0 mg/l of sulfolane was catabolized by Paracoccus sp. in 3 days. When a mixed culture composed of the five bacterial species was applied to real wastewater containing DGMME, APOL, NMP, DGMEE, or TEG, 92~99% of each individual ROC was catabolized within 3 days. However, at least 9 days were required for the complete mineralization of sulfolane. Bacterial community diversity, analyzed on the basis of the TGGE pattern of 16S rDNA extracted from viable cells, was found to be significantly reduced in a conventional bioreactor after 6 days of incubation. However, biodiversity was maintained after 12 days of incubation in an electrochemical bioreactor. In conclusion, the electrochemical reduction reaction enhanced the diversity of the bacterial community and actively catabolized sulfolane.

This paper introduces the design of a bridge transport system with a telescopic tube for positioning equipment to perform remote handling tasks in a radioactive facility. It consists of an extensible and retractable telescopic tube assembly for z-direction motion, a cabling system for management of power and signal cables, and a trolley system for transverse motion and accommodating servo drives. The working environment for the bridge transport system with the telescopic tube requires strict geometrical constraints, including a short height, short telescopic tube length when retracted, and a long stroke. These constraints were met by solving a nonlinear programming problem involving the optimal dimensions. This paper introduces a cabling system for effective management of cables with changeable lengths to accommodate telescopic motions and a selection guide for servo drives that are sufficient to drive the system.

This paper describes the application of an active magnetic bearing (AMB) system to levitate the elevation axis of an electro-optical sight mounted on a moving vehicle. In this type of system, it is desirable to retain the elevation axis in an air–gap between magnetic bearing stators while the vehicle is moving. A sliding mode control is applied to increase robustness to model uncertainties and to reduce disturbance responses. To ensure the authority of sliding mode control, model parameter uncertainties of AMB systems are analysed and reachability to sliding surface has been verified. The sliding surfaces are designed such that the poles of the closed-loop system locate at desired locations. The proposed control is applied to a 2-DOF active magnetic bearing system subject to base motion. The feasibility of the proposed technique is verified with experimental results.

In this work, a bilateral control for a master-slave manipulator system which will be used for handling objects contaminated by radioactivity has been addressed. The links of manipulators are driven independently by individual motors installed on the base and the driving torque is transmitted through pre-tensioned tendons. The measurable variables are the positions and rates of master/slave motors. In the consideration of the flexibility of the tendon and available measurements for control, we proposed an optimal static output feedback control for possible bilateral control architecture. By using modal analysis, the system model is reduced to guarantee the detectability which is a necessity for the static output feedback control design. Based on the reduced model, the control gains are determined to attenuate vibration in the sense of optimality. The feasibility of the proposed control design was verified along with some simulation results.

PurposeThis paper aims to describe bridge transported servo‐manipulator (BTSM) system, which was developed to overcome the limited workspace of the conventional mechanical master‐slave manipulators in a hot cell.Design/methodology/approachThe BTSM system consists of four components: a transporter with a telescoping tubeset, a slave manipulator, a master manipulator, and a remote control system. The slave manipulator is able to move horizontally, transversely, and vertically by using the transporter.FindingsThe performance test of the BTSM system has been carried out in terms of basic functions such as force threshold, bilateral control and force reflection characteristic.Originality/valueWith respect to design characteristic, the BTSM system has the novel features in that the individual motor modules or the slave manipulator can be repaired in a fully remote manner in case of catastrophic failure. Also, a 3D viewing camera facilitates remote tasks giving human operators realistic environmental information.

This study deals with the design and implementation results for a high-capacity vol-oxidizer (HCV that can convert UO2 pellets of up to several tens of kgHM/batch to U3O8 powder. Before fabricating the HCV, we fabricated a prototype that can process such a high capacity. From the analyses of some drawbacks of the prototype, we devised a couple of novel innovations such as a folding-type mesh, vibrators, and mixing blades. We used the Stokes equation to theoretically determine the most reasonable flux so as not to cause U3O8 powder dispersion during oxidation. Compared with the results of the prototype, we showed that both the recovery rate of the U3O8 powders and the oxidation rate of the UO2 pellets of the HCV were remarkably increased due to the folding-type mesh, vibrator and mixing blades, and the temperature was controlled stably in spite of the exothermic reaction due to the mixing blades along with the rotational mesh. Also, no powder was dispersed through the exhaust line of the HCV within the air...

The cell-immobilization technique is used for the physical and chemical fixation of cells onto a solid support in order to increase their stability and capacity of substrate uptake. However, there is no apparatus to observe the microbial community's structure inside cell immobilizing polymeric carrier. In order to satisfy the demand of monitoring for the microbial distribution inside the carrier, we developed an automatic phase contrast microscopic monitoring system capable of determining the microbial density and distribution inside a cell-entrapped carrier automatically.

This work describes a novel technology for the reuse of low concentrated electronic wastewater using selected microbe immobilisation cell (SMIC) system. The SMIC system is an innovative technology to maximise the activity of specific microorganisms capable of decomposing tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide (TMAH) as a major organic compound in the low concentrated electronic wastewater. The versatility of the SMIC system has been studied by using continuous-flow reactors. The TOC in a SMIC system was removed completely, indicating that SMIC is a useful technology to remove TOC biologically in low concentrated wastewater. The most important advantages of this system are highly effective and stable in view of TMAH removal. These characteristics make well suited to various applications depending on targeted compounds and microorganisms and, especially, in the wastewater of electronic facilities.

The Advanced Spent Fuel Conditioning Process(ACP), which is the process of the reduction of uranium oxide by lithium metal in a high temperature molten salt bath for spent fuel, was developed at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). Since the ACP equipment is located in an intense radiation field (hot cell) as well as in a high temperature, it must be remotely operated and maintained. The ACP hot cell is very narrow so the workspace of the wall-mounted mechanical Master-Slave Manipulators(MSMs) is restricted. A Bridge Transported Servo Manipulator(BTSM) system has been developed to overcome the limitation of an access that is a drawback of the mechanical MSMs. The BTSM system consists ot a bridge crane with telescoping tubeset, a slave manipulator, a master manipulator, and a control system. We applied a bilateral position-position control scheme with friction compensation as force-reflecting controller. In this paper, the transmission characteristics on the tendon-and-pulley train is numerically formulated and analyzed. Also, we evaluate the performance of the force-reflecting servo manipulator.

In this paper, we present a position-based robot hand tracking scheme where a pan-tilt camera is controlled such that a robot hand is always shown in the center of an image frame. We calculate the rotation angles of a pan-tilt camera by transforming the coordinate systems. In order to identify the model parameters, we applied two optimization techniques: a nonlinear least square optimizer and a particle swarm optimizer. From the simulation results, it is shown that the considered parameter identification problem is characterized by a highly multimodal landscape; thus, a global optimization technique such as a particle swarm optimization could be a promising tool to identify the model parameters of a robot hand tracking system, whereas the nonlinear least square optimizer often failed to find an optimal solution even when the initial candidate solutions were selected close to the true optimum.

This paper introduces a manipulator that is under development as a remote maintenance tool in the argon-filled cell of PRIDE, a nuclear facility. This remote manipulator was designed to be able to operate in areas where other remote equipment such as a mechanical master-slave manipulator or bridge-transported dual servo manipulator cannot reach. The remote maintenance tool can be used to support the maintenance of process and cell equipment. In this paper, the mechanical design and manufacturing of the remote manipulation tool are addressed.

In remote control of telerobotics equipment, the real-time visual feedback is necessary in order to facilitate real-time control. Because of the network congestion and the associated delays, the real-time image feedback is generally difficult in the public networks like internet. If the remote user is not able to receive the image feedback within a certain time, the work performance may tend to decrease, and it makes difficulties to control of the telerobotics equipment. In this paper, we propose an improved visual feedback scheme over the internet for telerobotics system. The size of a remote site image and its quality are adjusted for efficient transmission. The constructed system has a better real-time update characteristics, and shows a potential for the real-time visual control of the telerobotics system.

In this paper, we describe the design of a novel crane system for use in a small argon hot-cell where only a mechanical master-slave manipulator (MSM) within the limitation is available for the maintenance of the crane. To get a practically achievable solution for the design problem, we devised a remote actuation mechanism in which the electrical parts of the crane are separated from the mechanical parts and installed inside the workspace of the MSM for remote maintenance. Even though the design concept does not provide a thoroughly sufficient solution because the mechanical parts are placed out of the MSM's workspace, the durability of the mechanical parts can be easily increased if they have a high safety margin. Therefore, the concept may be one of best solutions for our special crane system. In addition, we developed a servo-control system based on absolute positioning technology; therefore, it is possible for us to perform the given tasks more safely through an automatic operation.

Over the course of a decade-long research programme, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has developed several remote handling systems for use in pyroprocessing research facilities. These systems are now used successfully for the operation and maintenance of processing equipment. The most recent remote handling system is the bridge-transported dual arm servo-manipulator system (BDSM), which is used for remote operation at the world's largest pyroprocess integrated inactive demonstration facility (PRIDE). Accurate and reliable servo-control is the basic requirement for the BDSM to accomplish any given tasks successfully in a hotcell environment. To achieve this end, the hardware and software of a digital signal processor-based remote control system were fully custom-developed and implemented to control the BDSM. To reduce the residual vibration of the BDSM, several input profiles, including input shaping, were carefully chosen and evaluated. Furthermore, a time delay controller was employed to achieve good tracking performance and systematic gain tuning. The experimental results demonstrate that the applied control algorithms are more effective than conventional approaches. The BDSM successfully completed its performance tests at a mock-up and was installed at PRIDE for real-world operation. The remote handling system at KAERI is expected to advance the actualization of pyroprocessing.

In this paper we describe remote manipulator systems for use in pyroprocessing facilities where direct access to an in-cell by human workers is not possible because of the toxicity of argon gas. These remote manipulator systems can be classified into two types, i.e., a BDSM (Bridge transported Dual arm Servo-Manipulators) and a Telemanipulator, depending on the environment they are installed in. The BDSM is an electrically driven manipulator, whereas the Telemanipulator is a mechanically driven manipulator. The remote manipulator systems of the BDSM and Telemanipulator were developed and installed in the pyroprocessing facilities at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, and are currently in use for remote operation and maintenance work of processing equipment and auxiliary devices for pyroprocessing technology development. We present the developments, installation and in-situ operation of remote manipulator systems.

In this paper, we describe the PRIDE Facility which has an installed remote handling system for the remote operation and maintenance of processing equipment. Processing equipment is operated in intense radiation fields as well as at high temperature. Thus, the equipment is operated in a remote manner and should be designed with consideration of remote handling and maintenance. An analysis and evaluation of the remote handling was carried out using a graphic simulator and physical mockup. This simulator is a virtual facility of a pyroprocessing mock-up facility. The simulator is designed to include all of the processing equipment, utilities, remote maintenance and handling devices and auxiliary devices or tools, in the form of virtual models necessary for the pyroprocessing technology implementation in a virtual facility environment. The use of this device for operation and maintenance to assess the results is reflected in its modifications of the device. The evaluation of the modified device was carried out in a physical mockup.

A prototype of a master-slave servo manipulator system has been developed for the use in the PRIDE (PyRoprocess Integrated inactive DEmonstration) facility. The PRIDE facility is designed to have an argon-atmosphere cell which prohibits direct access by human operators. Therefore, all the operation and maintenance of the process equipment is performed remotely through a master-slave manipulation. In this paper, we describe a motion-decoupled joint design of a cable-driven mechanism, a weight balancing analysis, and an interface system. The prototype manipulator system has been installed at a mock-up facility and the performance test of the manipulator system is currently carried out.