AN INTGRATED VIDEO AND GAMMA RAY IMAGING SYSTEM FOR ROBOTS IN NUCLEAR ENVIRONMENTS

ROBOTS ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT THROUGHOUT THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY. THEY ARE COMMONLY USED TO IMPROVE OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE, LOWER OPERATING COSTS, ENHANCE WORKER SAFETY, AND REDUCE RADIATION EXPOSURE TO WORKERS. HOWEVER, THE CAPABILITIES OF EXISTING ROBOTS ARE LIMITEDBY THE SYSTEMS USED TO SENSE THEIR SURROUNDINGS. ALTHOUGH EXISTING ROBOTS OFTEN HAVE VISUAL IMAGING SYSTEMS AND NUCLEAR SURVEY INSTRUMENTS, THESE SENSORS DO NOT ALLOW THE ROBOT OR THE OPERATOR TO EASILY VISUALIZE THE DISTRIBUTION OF RADIOACTIVITY AROUND THE ROBOT. INSTEAD, TIME-CONSUMING SCANNING PROCEDURES ARE REQUIRED TO LOCATE AND QUALIFY SOURCES OF RADIOACTIVITY IN TASKS SUCH AS SURVEILLANCE AND INSPECTION OF NUCLEAR PLANTS, CLEAN OPERATIONS, AND THE ROUTINE PROCESSING OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS. PHASE I WILL DEVELOP A VERY COMPACT CAMERA SYSTEM WHICH WILL BE ABLE TO GENERATE A REAL-TIME IMAGE OF THE NUCLEAR RADIATION IN THE CAMERA'S FIELDOF VIEW. THE RESULTING IMAGE, WHICH CAN BE SUPERIMPOSED ON A VISUAL IMAGE, WILL ALLOW THE OPERATOR TO QUICKLY AND EASILY IDENTIFY THE LOCATION OF SOURCES OF NUCLEAR RADIATION AND TO MEASURE THE INTENSITY OF THE RADIATION. SUCH A CAPABILITY WOULD BE IMMEDIATELY BENEFICIAL FOR ROBOTIC AND TELEROBOTIC OPERATIONS IN NUCLEAR ENVIRONMENTS.