DEVELOPMENT OF A TELESCOPIC ACTIVE SCOPE CAMERA THAT THREADS PERFORATED PLATES FOR THE DECOMMISSIONING OF THE FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

Abstract

The decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant necessitates advanced robotic technology to mitigate radiation exposure to workers. This study introduces a Telescopic Active Scope Camera (TASC) designed to remove contaminated water within a Reactor Building Cooling Water System (RCW). The operation involves maneuvering a suction hose through a small hole on a perforated panel after navigating approximately 10 m of complex piping. Traditional continuum robots, such as the Active Scope Camera, face challenges in precisely controlling their tips to thread such holes. The TASC addresses this by incorporating a set of outer and inner continuum robots with flexible cilia-covered bodies and a mobile tip mechanism equipped with active wheels. This outer robot travels through intricate pipes, positioning the tip mechanism to align with the perforated panel while an inner scope camera (suction hose with camera) is pushed out to thread the hole. Vibrations from the outer robot enhance both propulsion in the pipes and the insertion of the inner scope camera. We developed a TASC prototype and experimentally demonstrated its capability to accurately thread an inner scope camera through perforated plate holes, evaluating its propulsion and pull-out performance under various design parameters.