MIE.16 – Work Cell Development for Legacy Waste Cleanup in Oak Ridge

This project details the development of a mobile Work Cell for facilities getting ready for decontamination and decommissioning at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The Work Cell allows for it to be moved to the area where the work is performed and is 2.9m (Length) x 2.6 m (Width) x 2.3m (Height). It incorporated a gantry type XY table with dual bridges with one supporting the dual-arm manipulator while the other supporting a Push-Pull Chain with multiple end-effectors. These end effectors can be changed out easily by the operator depending on the job needs. The system is currently under development and will be demonstrated by the end of 2023. The initial task for the Work-Cell will be the interrogation of nuclear storage casks and transferring the contents into DOT approved casks. The design team can design the controller in advance of the device, but the need arises for a testing environment. A hardware-in-the-loop virtual environment with real-time analysis tools and a fully animated model was developed to fulfill this need. It is compatible with motion controllers and servo drives for diverse applications. Controller logic is built in CODESYS, analysis is performed in Simulink and the animated model is built in Unreal Engine 4. Environments can be generated from computer-aided design files and 3D assets. Motion data from the virtual model is then used to optimize actuator controllers, support design changes, and improve safety training. The virtual model is built to visualize and test the controls of a mobile work cell with three degrees of freedom and a Universal Robots 3 Collaborative Robot with six degrees of freedom. Testing and optimization of the controller is done using the virtual environment and results are reported. Data from the controller testing is then used to validate the system’s performance.