A noncontact distance and dimension measurement system for remote handling in hostile environment

극한환경 원격조작을 위한 거리측정시스템 개발

Spent nuclear fuel is very dangerous substance emitting strong ionizing radiation which is harmful to human body. The remote handling of spent nuclear fuel is essential because people cannot access this substance without protecting radiation. To handle highly radioactive material or nuclear waste, many kinds of teleoperators such as master slave manipulator, electro mechanical manipulator, servo manipulator, mobile robot was developed. The distance and dimension of target object cannot be measured easily when highly radioactive material is handled by teleoperator because one should use lead glass or TV camera and monitor to protect radiation and see target object. During experiments on the remote handling of spent nuclear fuel by electro mechanical manipulator, we often felt that a distance and dimension measurement system is necessary to handle the objects which is in the highly radioactive environment, so we developed a system which is appropriate for this purpose.