WELDING FABRICATION, MAINTENANCE, AND REPAIR OF NUCLEAR REACTOR COMPONENTS

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROGRAM IS TO DEVELOP INNOVATIVE APPROACHES FOR REMOTE MONITORING AND CONTROL OF ARC WELDING--AND POSSIBLY OF OTHER HIGH LUMINOSITY PROCESSES--BYUSING A NOVEL VISION SENSOR THAT INCORPORATES PULSED LASER ILLUMINATION AND SYNCHRONIZED IMAGE SENSING TO SUPPRESS THE WELDING ARC IN THE VIDEO IMAGE; APPROPRIATE VISION PROCESSING TECHNIQUES THAT ENHANCE THE IMAGE, DETECT IMPORTANT FEATURES, AND PRODUCE RELEVANT DIMENSIONAL MEASUREMENTS; AND SIMULTANEOUS MONITORING AND ANALYSIS OF ARC ELECTRIC SIGNALS AND OTHER PROCESS PARAMETERS. THESE SYSTEMS WILL ALLOW MORE EFFECTIVE HUMAN OPERATOR MONITORING,BETTER RECORD-KEEPING, AND MORE RELIABLE IN-PROCESS FEEDBACKFOR PROCESS CONTROL. THEY ARE TO BE USED IN THE INITIAL CONSTRUCTION, MAINTENANCE, AND REPAIR OPERATIONS OF REACTOR COMPONENTS AND OTHER NUCLEAR FACILITY EQUIPMENT. IN PHASE I, THE PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON THESE TASKS: BRIEF ANALYSIS OF NUCLEAR FACILITY FABRICATION, MAINTENANCE, AND REPAIR REQUIREMENTS; EXAMINATION OF ALTERNATIVE MONITORING AND CONTROL APPROACHES AND OVER-ALL SYSTEM ARCHITECTURES; ANALYSIS OF VISION SENSING REQUIREMENTS AND EXAMINATION OF THE FEASIBILITY OF SENSOR RADIATION HARDENING AND MINIATURIZATION; ANALYSIS OF VISION PROCESSING REQUIREMENTS AND DEVELOPMENT OF PROTOTYPE VISION PROCESSING SCHEMES; AND ANALYSIS OF REQUIREMENTS FOR SIMULTANEOUS MONITORING OF ARC SIGNALS AND OTHER WELD PARAMETERS. THE LIMITED PHASE I PROTOTYPES OF THE PROCESSING AND ANALYSIS SCHEMES WILL BE DEVELOPED ON AN ADVANCED, INDUSTRIALLY HARDENED MICROCOMPUTER PLATFORM WHERE THE PLANNED SYSTEMS WILL BE IMPLEMENTED IN PHASE II. ON THE BASIS OF PHASE I, NEEDS FORFUTURE RESEARCH WILL BE IDENTIFIED, AND THE PHASE II EFFORT WILL BE PLANNED.