Comparison of three key remote sensing technologies for mobile robot localization in nuclear facilities

Sensor technologies will play a key role in the success of Remote Maintenance (RM) systems for future fusion reactors. In this paper, three key types of sensor technologies of particular interest in the robotics field at the moment are evaluated, namely: Colour-Depth cameras, LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging), and Millimetre-Wave (mmWave) RADAR. The evaluation of the sensors is performed based on the following criteria: the types of data they provide, the accuracy at different distances, and the potential environmental resistance of the sensor (namely gamma radiation). The authors review the progress in making these three types of sensor capable of operating in Fusion facilities and discuss possible mitigations. Experiments are performed to demonstrate the pros and cons of each type of sensor by collecting data from radar, colour-depth camera and LIDAR, simultaneously. The paper concludes with a performance comparison between sensors, as well as discussing the possibility of combining them, fostering redundancy in case of failure of any individual sensor device.