The electro-hydraulic mix-drive cantilever arm platform (EMCAP) for general technology research in remote handling for Tokamak

Abstract

The EMCAP (electro-hydraulic mix-drive cantilever arm platform) is built to study general functions required by the maintenance of tokamak and cultivate remote handling engineers. This paper aims to give an overview of this robotic platform for general technology research. The platform consists of radiation tolerant materials and joints, a long cantilever arm with redundant degrees of freedom, a rapid control prototype, a vacuum vessel model, a bolts driving tool, cutting tools, and a virtual reality software. The design of this platform is partly presented: 10 degrees of freedom are demonstrated; the length of articulated arm reaches 3.15 m; the load capacity of terminal is 10 kg; the radiation tolerance of a test arm with electro-hydraulic joints reaches 4MGy in gamma ray. The motion planning is tested in a vacuum vessel model. The primary process is also studied by the end effectors for functional researches. Screwing and unscrewing bolts are successfully realized without connecting to cantilever arm, but pipe cutting from outside space still faces some force issues, and the laser cutting tool for inner pipe working space brings about waste contamination problems, which requires improvement. This remote handling platform is the first visible success for SWIP in developing unmanned maintenance for the fusion devices.