Assessment of navigation technologies for automated guided vehicle in nuclear fusion facilities

Abstract

Nuclear fusion power plants require periodical maintenance, including the remote handling operations of transportation performed by automated guided vehicles (AGV). The navigation system becomes a key issue given the safety constrains of the heavy load to be transported in the complex scenarios, such as the reactor building. This work presents well-known and mature navigation technologies used by AGV in industry: with a physical path (e.g., wire/inductive guidance, optical line guidance and magnetic tape guidance) and with a virtual path (e.g., laser based, motion capture, inertial, magnetic-gyro) to be followed by the AGV during the operations of transportation. A critical assessment is also presented regarding the performance of these technologies against the operational requirements and safety demonstration in the framework of fusion facilities like ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) or DEMO (DEMOnstration Power Station).