A Low-Cost and Semi-Autonomous Robotic Scanning System for Characterising Radiological Waste

• Published in: Robotics (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 4; p. 119
• Main Authors: Monk, Stephen David, West, Craig, Bandala, Manuel, Dixon, Nile, Montazeri, Allahyar, Taylor, C. James, Cheneler, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.12.2021
• Subjects: Algorithms; Cameras; Commercial off-the-shelf technology; Electronic components; Ethernet; Gamma rays; Kromek RadAngel; Low cost; MATLAB; Microsoft Kinect; Radiation; Radioisotopes; radiological scanning; Robot arms; Robotics; Robots; Scanners; Scanning; semi-autonomic; Sensors; Universal UR3 robot; Vision systems; Zinc telluride
• ISSN: 2218-6581; 2218-6581
• DOI: 10.3390/robotics10040119

A novel, semi-autonomous radiological scanning system for inspecting irregularly shaped and radiologically uncharacterised objects in various orientations is presented. The system utilises relatively low cost, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) electronic components, and is intended for use within relatively low to medium radioactive dose environments. To illustrate the generic concepts, the combination of a low-cost COTS vision system, a six DoF manipulator and a gamma radiation spectrometer are investigated. Three modes of vision have been developed, allowing a remote operator to choose the most appropriate algorithm for the task. The robot arm subsequently scans autonomously across the selected object, determines the scan positions and enables the generation of radiological spectra using the gamma spectrometer. These data inform the operator of any likely radioisotopes present, where in the object they are located and thus whether the object should be treated as LLW, ILW or HLW.