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Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Latest News
College students help develop waste-measuring device at Hanford
A partnership between Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) and Washington State University has resulted in the development of a device to measure radioactive and chemical tank waste at the Hanford Site. WRPS is the contractor at Hanford for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management.
Akihiro Kitamura, Takashi Namekawa, Kousuke Hiramatsu, Yoshiyuki Sankai
Nuclear Technology | Volume 184 | Number 3 | December 2013 | Pages 310-319
Technical Paper | Robotic and Remote Systems / Human Factors | doi.org/10.13182/NT13-A24988
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A remote control system to operate a manipulator arm by the HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb) robot suit is examined in the application of in-cell equipment maintenance. In this integrated system the operator wears the exoskeletal-structured HAL and the operator's movement is transferred through HAL's computer system to a slave-type manipulator arm. The system includes a bioelectrical signals (BES) control scheme and a position control scheme. In the former scheme, sensors attached to the skin on the operator's arms detect faint BES when the operator makes a movement. The signals are processed and analyzed by a computer to determine the operator's intention. The computer then calculates the necessary assistive power and the power units generate adequate power to each joint of the HAL suit to assist the operator. To evaluate the effectiveness and usefulness of the system, remote handling experiments were designed using mockup equipment, and the performance of remote operation conducted by the two schemes mentioned above was compared with that by the more conventional three-dimensional mouse control scheme. Of these three control schemes, the BES control scheme clearly outperformed the others in executing direct-contact tasks of in-cell equipment maintenance with small operation time and small variation.