MHI has begun full demonstration testing of its "MEISTeR" remote controlled robot at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The sophisticated machine - named from "maintenance equipment integrated system of telecontrol robot" - has already completed demonstration testing of decontamination work and concrete core sampling.
The robot was developed specifically to perform maintenance, repair and other tasks at disaster or severe accident sites. Its work performance at the Fukushima site has confirmed the robot's range of capabilities, and plans now call for the MEISTeR to assist in recovery work by performing various tasks including decontamination and sampling.
MEISTeR is an enhanced version of a disaster response robot initially developed by MHI after the criticality accident at the nuclear fuel processing facility in Tokai-mura, Ibaraki prefecture, in 1999. The improvements incorporated, which were based on MHI's maintenance technologies cultivated at nuclear power facilities, were aimed at enabling the new robot to be used at the Fukushima site, and they were implemented in co-operation with operator Tepco and the International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning (IRID) as part of a project funded by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Under this initiative the robot was significantly improved in terms of radioactive resistance and remote control capability, making it adaptable to performing a variety of tasks in highly radioactive locations.
Whereas most disaster response robots available until now have primarily performed inspection, maintenance and similar tasks relying on cameras and sensors, the MEISTeR can handle a broad array of tasks by changing the tools attached to its two arm ends. In addition to inspection and maintenance, the it can perform decontamination work, concrete core sampling, cutting of obstacles blocking pathways etc.
Each robot arm has seven freely articulating joints. By attaching a different tool to the left and right arms, two types of work can be performed simultaneously: for example, grasping an item with one arm and cutting with the other. Inside a nuclear power plant, the MEISTeR is capable of tasks including concrete drilling, cutting of handrails and piping, removal of obstacles, decontamination, repair work, and so on.
Inside Unit 1 at Fukushima, the robot has been carrying out demonstration testing of two decontamination processes since late January: one whereby radioactive material in the plant is sucked up through a dedicated nozzle, and another in which a jet of abrasive blast material is used to scrape off a thin layer of a contaminated surface. It also confirmed travel capability inside the plant's narrow passageways, and performed concrete core sampling aimed at investigating the level of contamination inside the reactor building.
Photo: MEISTeR during in-house demonstration testing (Credit: MHI)
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