Dedicated and industrial robotic arms used as force feedback telerobots at the AREVA-La Hague recycling plant
Résumé
CEA LIST and AREVA have been jointly developing telerobotic devices for 15 years to perform force feedback remote handling tasks in the AREVA La Hague used fuel recycling plant hot-cells. This article first reviews the technological developments involved: The generic Cartesian telerobotics software TAO2000 and the rad-hardened force sensor and multiplexer. We then discuss the experience of several maintenance campaigns of the dissolver wheel with the telerobot Stäubli RX TAO (using the Stäubli RX as a slave arm) and the specification of a new maintenance operation (bucket cleaning). The promising first operational results of the through-the-wall telescopic telerobot MT200 TAO [4] (a motorized version of the MT200 La Calhène cable-driven mechanical slave arm) in regular production tasks, are also presented. We conclude on the undergoing industrialization of these equipments by AREVA and its awaited benefits on the existing and future hot cell operations and design.