Design and Implementation of Remote Control System for Reactor VesselWeld InspectionManipulator

Abstract

Professional paperIn this paper a design and implementation of a remote control system of a manipulator for weld inspection of nuclear reactor vessels are described.Based on the client-server TCP/IP software architecture, the presented control system enables an operator to perform the entire inspection procedure remotely over a network, avoiding exposure to dangerous radiation normally present in nuclear reactor environments.The developed graphical user interface provides tools for planning weld scan trajectories, their verification on a robot and reactor vessel 3D model, and finally, execution of planned trajectories on a remote robot.In addition, the weld inspection process can be monitored in parallel on a virtual robot and reactor vessel model and by watching live video streams captured by two cameras mounted on the robot.