Design of Handling and Extension Tool for Inspection and Maintenance of CAREM Steam Generators

As part of the innovative new Argentinian Small Modular Nuclear Reactor CAREM, the task for inspection and maintenance of its steam generators tubes is being automated using a KUKA® QUANTEC NANO industrial robotic arm. One of the requirements for this arm is that is doesn’t collide with any element inside the containment area, so an arm with a restricted range has been selected. This means that the arm is just not long enough for some tasks, which results in the need to design a tool to increase its range. This tool must also be able of coupling other tools or devices, which will be the ones that perform each task. Given that most of the devices will be used in this way, the extension tool is one of the main components within the proposed system, meaning a strong interaction with the rest of the designs. In this work, the design of this extension and manipulation tool (HEMA) is presented, as well as its simulation, prototype manufacture and initial integration in a 1:1 mock-up of the robotic cell.