Mock-up of hazardous material handling tasks using a dual-arm robotic system

This paper describes experimentation in the deployment feasibility of robotic systems for Deactivation and Decommissioning (D&D) tasks associated with hazardous nuclear site clean-up. The dismantlement process often involves size reduction of the equipment so that it can be stored more efficiently in nuclear waste sites. The prototyping of a D&D type task using a dual-arm robotic system is selected for a mock-up application. The material size reduction task includes the use of one arm of the dual-arm robot to hold and position the work piece while the other arm uses off-the-shelf tooling to perform work on the work piece in a cooperative manner. Descriptions of the requirements, system hardware and prototype experiment are provided.