DEVELOPMENT OF ROBOTICS APPLICATIONS IN A SOLID PROPELLANT MIXING LABORATORY

TO FURTHER SUPPORT EVOLUTION OF ROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY INTO THE LABORATORIES, THE U.S. AIR FORCE HAS IDENTIFIED THE NEED TO IMPROVE RESEARCH TO PERMIT OPTIMUM USES OF RECENTLY INTRODUCED ROBOTIC SYSTEMS. KLM TECHNOLOGIES, INC., (KLM) HAS SPENT THE PAST FEW YEARS IN REVIEWING, ANALYZING AND APPLYING ROBOTIC TECHNOLOGIES AS THEY APPLIED TO THE HAZARDOUS ENVIRONMENTS; IDENTIFYING THE CAPABILITIES AND LIMITATIONS OF THE TECHNOLOGY AGAINST AN ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL LABORATORY APPLICATIONS; IDENTIFYING A POTENTIAL CLASS OF ACTIVITIES FOR FURTHER STUDY AND ON-SITE TESTING; AND, INITIATING TEST AND EVALUATION PROGRAMS TO SUPPORT THE ENTREE OF THE TECHNOLOGY INTO AN OPERATING LABORATORY ENVIRONMENT. IN 1986 KLM WAS AWARDED A CONTRACT BY A MAJOR AEROSPACE COMPANY (MORTON THIOKOL, INC.) TO DESIGN, FABRICATE AND INSTALL A ROBOTIC LABORATORY AUTOMATION SYSTEM FOR ROCKET PROPELLANT POT LIFE MEASUREMENT. THIS PROJECT PRESENTS ONE OF THE FIRST USES OF ROBOTIC IN PROPELLANT MANUFACTURING AND TESTING. KLM IS PROPOSING A TWO PHASE PROGRAM TO BUILD UPON THIS PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE BASE TO SUBSTANTIALLY EXPAND THE USE OF ROBOTICS BY EXPLORING AND IMPLEMENTING A DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM TO INCREASE THE POTENTIAL USEFUL WORK A ROBOTIC SYSTEM CAN PERFORM SUCCESSFULLY IN A LABORATORY ENVIRONMENT. THE MULTIPHASE PROGRAM IS DESIGNED TO ADDRESS THE APPLICATION OF ROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY AND OTHER AUTOMATED PROCESSING TECHNIQUES AS A MEANS OF REDUCING COST AND IMPROVING THE SAFETY OF THESE OPERATIONS. SPECIAL EMPHASIS IS PLACED ON THE UTILIZATION OF EITHER FIXED OR LINEAR TRACKED TABLE TOP ROBOTS TO ASSIST IN INGREDIENT WEIGHING AND PROBABILITY, INGREDIENT ADDITION, ON-LINE MONITORING OF RELEVANT MIX PARAMETERS, PROPELLANT CASTING, CLEAN-UP AND TESTING.