Calibration and compensation of deflections and compliances in remote handling equipment configurations

• Published in: Fusion engineering and design 2011-10, Vol.86 (9), p.2043-2046
• Main Authors: Kivelä, Tuomo, Saarinen, H., Mattila, J., Hämäläinen, V., Siuko, M., Semeraro, L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Algorithms; Applied sciences; Calibration; Cassette Multifunctional Mover; Cassettes; Compensation; Controled nuclear fusion plants; Deflection; Divertor Test Platform 2; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Errors; Exact sciences and technology; Installations for energy generation and conversion: thermal and electrical energy; ITER; Kinematics; Remote handling
• ISSN: 0920-3796; 1873-7196
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fusengdes.2010.12.032

This paper presents a generic method of calibrating and compensating remote handling system configurations subject to manufacturing and assembly tolerances, deflections and compliances. A method consists of kinematic part and non-kinematic part. A kinematic calibration algorithm is presented for finding the values of kinematic model errors by measuring the end-effector Cartesian position. This is a conventional way to calibrate industrial robots. However, in this case the kinematic calibration is not able to compensate flaws fully due to large deflections and compliances caused by a massive Cassette payload (approx. 9 ton). Positioning error at the furthest point of the cassette before any compensation was 80 mm. Therefore, extra compensation must be introduced in addition to a kinematic calibration. A kinematic calibration together with an extra compensation is a demanding task to carry out. The resulting complex compensation function has to be such that it can be implemented in real-time Cassette Multifunctional Mover (CMM) control system software.