Nuclear reactor robot gas sampler
We use cookies to provide you with a better onsite experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy. As workers race to stave off further melting at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors in Japanseveral robots there are waiting on the sidelines for an opportunity to help. Questions remain, however, regarding how these units might assist in an ongoing emergency at a site contaminated with radiation and deluged with tons of corrosive seawater.
Concrete pump trucks sprayed about tons of water into Daiichi's No. Seawater is also being injected into the No. Other robotics companies, including Canada's Inuktun Servicesare also fielding inquiries about how their technology might be of use.
Each of the robots of interest moves on tracks and features a mechanical hand that can be used to lift and manipulate objects. The roles that robots might play in Japan will depend upon the emergency responders' priorities, whether this includes handling intensely hot or radioactive materials or, later removing sludge from the site or drilling core samples to determine how deeply radiation may have penetrated the facility's walls and floor, says William "Red" Whittakera Carnegie Mellon University robotics professor and director of the Field Robotics Center at the school's Robotics Institute in Nuclear reactor robot gas sampler.
Whittaker and several Carnegie Mellon colleagues built robots in the late s and early s to inspect and perform repairs in the basement of Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station following the near meltdown there in The robots Mitsui's kilogram Moni-Robo is reportedly on site at Daiichi. The one-armed robot is designed to be operated remotely—from as far as a kilometer away—and includes a camera that can take nuclear reactor robot gas sampler as well as 3-D thermographic images.
The centimeter-tall Moni-Robo rolls along on tracks and also features sensors for measuring radioactivity and detecting combustible gases. Inuktun, based in Nanaimo, British Columbia, specializes in making remote-controlled video cameras and "crawler" robots in a variety of sizes, ranging from the Versatrax which fits in a pipe 10 centimeters in diameter to the Versatrax TTC which is 38 centimeters in diameter. These crawler bots are used primarily to inspect confined spaces such as pipes and sewers.
Given that the Packbot is designed primarily for explosive ordinance disposal and the Warrior is a prototype that will not be commercially available until this summer, iRobot's engineers still need to discuss the robots' capabilities, operation and limitations with TEPCo personnel, he adds.
The kilogram iRobot Warriors were modified so they could carry a 6. Each unit features an arm that can lift up to about kilograms as well as an adjustable track system that allows it to climb stairs and travel up to One of the Packbots was fitted with a sensor that can detect radioactivity.
In addition to being able nuclear reactor robot gas sampler negotiate stairs, the Packbot can travel at up to 9. Undefined mission It is unclear what role, if any, the Packbots and Warriors will play in TEPCo's efforts to restore power to its nuclear reactors and cool its on-site nuclear fuel rods. Ultimately, the goal is to send the robots into the hazardous environment and keep those controlling the robots at a safe distance.
Trainer made it clear that those engineers will pass along their knowledge of the robots to TEPCo and will not be going into the nuclear exclusion zones surrounding the reactors. Radiation woes Electronics can be made more radiation tolerant in a number of ways, Whittaker says. One is to keep the conductors and insulators on a device's silicon chips farther apart so that heat can more easily dissipate and the chip is more resilient.
Another approach to keeping a system functioning in high-radiation environments is to implement redundant systems so it can function even if one of those systems is damaged. As with most military equipment, the iRobot's units have integrated nuclear reactor robot gas sampler interference EMI shielding to cover the wiring, circuit boards and anywhere else the robot might be susceptible to such interference.
The company was concerned that the robots might not be able nuclear reactor robot gas sampler operate wirelessly due to radiation interfering with radio signals to and from the robots, so it added fiber-optic tethered spoolers so the Packbots and Warriors could be tele-operated from up to meters and meters, respectively, Trainer nuclear reactor robot gas sampler.
With the nuclear reactor robot gas sampler of its charge-coupled device CCD cameras and embedded electronics, Inuktun's crawlers are capable of operating in a medium-level radiation field and dosage, says Dobell. For high-radiation situations, the company typically installs radiation-tolerant cameras on its crawler equipment in order to get nuclear reactor robot gas sampler the more dangerous areas. The robots themselves are built using stainless steel, which Dobell says allows for easier decontamination.
Water world It is common in nuclear recovery to operate in shallow water, where a robot might need to be able to withstand being submerged, Whittaker says. This was the case in the basement of the Three Mile Island facility, where several hundred thousand liters of heavily contaminated cooling water had washed through the reactor, he adds. Even if the robot is nuclear reactor robot gas sampler completely submerged in water, it will be working in nuclear reactor robot gas sampler very wet environment.
Neither the Packbot nor the Warrior was designed to work in extreme heat or to be submerged in water, though they are able to function in up to meter or so of water, Trainer says. These limitations could pose challenges, especially given TEPCo's ongoing efforts to deliver water to its overheated fuel rods by any means, including fire hoses and airplane drops. Larry Greenemeier is the associate editor of technology for Scientific Americancovering a variety of tech-related topics, including biotech, computers, military tech, nanotech and robots.
Larry Greenemeier Larry Greenemeier is the associate editor of technology for Scientific Americancovering a variety of tech-related topics, including biotech, computers, military tech, nanotech and robots. Sign up for our email newsletter. Forget Flowers, Give Science. Get the perfect gift for mom Shop Now.