DESIGN OF THE FIRST STAGE MODULAR TWO-STAGE ROBOT

THE HAZARDOUS ENVIRONMENT OF A NUCLEAR POWERPLANT CAN BE ACCESSED SAFELY DURING A SHUT-DOWN OR AN ACCIDENT ONLY BY ROBOTIC AUTOMATA. CURRENT GENERATION ROBOTS, WHILE ADEQUATEFOR AREAS THAT REQUIRE ONLY LIMITED MOBILITY, ARE PRECLUDED FROM ACCESSING MANY AREAS OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES BECAUSE THESE PLANTS WERE NOT DESIGNED WITH ROBOTIC OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS IN MIND. FURTHERMORE, CURRENT GENERATION ROBOTS ARE INCAPABLE OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL MANEUVERING WITH EXTENDED-REACH MANIPULATION AND LOCOMOTION THAT WOULD ALLOW MULTIPLE OPERATIONAL TASKS TO BE PERFORMED IN THOSE CONSTRAINED AREAS. A SOLUTION IS TO BUILD A MODULAR TWO-STAGE ROBOT (M2SR) SYSTEM THAT ALLOWS MUCH MORE COMPLETEACCESS WITHIN THE NUCLEAR PLANT ENVIRONMENT. PHASE I CONSISTS OF NUCLEAR PLANT ENVIRONMENT. PHASE I CONSISTS OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE FIRST STAGE ROBOT, A MULTI-PURPOSE MOBILEVEHICLE (MMV), WHICH IS A HIGHLY MANEUVERABLE AUTONOMOUS BASE UNIT THAT CAN CLIMB UP AND DOWN STAIRS, WALK OVER OBSTACLES, AND MOVE RELATIVELY FAST (IF NECESSARY). THIS FIRST STAGE ROBOT CAN CARRY AND OPERATE THE SECOND STAGE, MULTIPLE TASK SPECIFIC ROBOTS.