Collaborative Robots for Handling Radioactive Materials

Abstract Samples of radioactive materials have traditionally been handled in gloveboxes or hot cells via remote manipulators, depending on the quantity of materials involved and their radiation levels. Many of the facilities that were set up to handle these materials in the United States are ageing and the renewed interest in developing new nuclear power plants - particularly ones based on non-light water reactor technology - have resulted in an increase in the number of materials being tested. This has driven a need to refurbish and modernize existing facilities and equipment for handling radioactive materials. While it is possible to replace existing equipment in a like for like fashion with new gloveboxes, hot cells, and manipulators, advances in robotics mean that there are other options available. This paper discusses the configuration and options for using small 6-axis robots (5 kg and 30 kg payload capacity) for applications in handling radioactive materials. For this study, collaborative robots were selected because they are preconfigured to limit motor torque. In industrial applications these robots can work along side human operators and will rapidly shutdown in resistance to their movement is detected. This significantly limits the consequences of a robot contacting a human operator, and it also limits the consequences of a robot contacting fixed items such as jigs, fixtures, and enclosures. This paper discusses options for using cobots for these types of applications, including preprogramming sequences of steps for handling samples, and the use of stereo cameras, virtual reality headsets, and hand controllers for taking manual control of a robot