Modular Robotics for Delivering On-Site Contamination Sensors and Mapping Systems to Difficult-to-Access Locations--ARM Automation, Inc., 14141 West Highway 290, Suite 700, Austin, TX 78737; 512-894-3534

Dr. Joseph Geisinger, Principal Investigator, joewg@armautomation.com

Mr. Stephen Grupinski, Business Official, stevegru@armautomation.com

DOE Grant No. DE-FG03-00ER82950

Amount: $748,007

Presently, characterization operations are scheduled for thousands of facilities and pieces of equipment throughout contaminated DOE sites, each of which requires manual surveying with handheld instruments and manual record keeping. Such work, particularly in difficult-to-access-areas, results in significant amounts of worker exposure, long timelines, and secondary waste generation. Therefore, a distinct need exists for remote tools that can quickly deploy sensors and automated contamination mapping systems into these areas. This project will combine a modular system for building custom robots with a portable real-time contamination sensing and mapping system (3D-ICAS) to provide a semi-automated and remote means of identifying and mapping hazardous contamination (heavy metals, organics, and radiological). In Phase I, a survey of sites containing difficult-to-access characterization needs determined that significant savings could be realized in worker exposure and in ancillary costs through the application of this modular robotic system. Phase II will integrate the modular robotic system with the contamination sensing and mapping system for use in an on-site characterization demonstration. To achieve this, hardware from two existing prototype systems will be utilized and modified prior to integration. The contamination analysis unit will be size-reduced while the modular robotic system will receive one larger joint size and deflection compensation, enabling it to reach areas far beyond those of comparable robotic systems.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: A tool that can be safely used for the detection and mapping of hazardous materials should have application in commercial nuclear facilities, bomb sniffing operations, military site decommissioning or anywhere dangerous organics, heavy metals, or radionuclides are used. Additionally, the modular robotic system should impact DOE deactivation and decommissioning operations, which presently have need of custom, high-performance robotics.