A low-cost mockup to simulate robotic laser cutting in nuclear decommissioning

2026-05-09

AI Summary

This study addresses the challenge of conducting low-cost and safe experimental validation of laser cutting in nuclear facility decommissioning. To this end, the authors develop a cost-effective simulation platform that employs an ultraviolet (UV) torch to emulate a laser beam, integrated with a three-axis positioning system, a six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm, and a marker-based vision system for process simulation. The work innovatively proposes a calibration-free constrained task-space adaptive motion controller, which enhances path-following accuracy and enables obstacle avoidance using only four degrees of freedom for UV beam orientation control. Experimental results demonstrate that, without prior system calibration, the trajectory tracking error of end-effector pose control averages 3.9 mm (standard deviation: 2.5 mm), which is significantly improved to 2.4 mm (standard deviation: 1.3 mm) under the proposed beam-oriented control strategy.

Abstract

This paper introduces a low-cost experimental mockup to simulate the laser cutting process of containers in nuclear decommissioning. It is composed of a three-axis table supporting a cuboid container with ultraviolet-sensitive faces, a six-degree-of-freedom serial manipulator holding an ultraviolet torch that simulates the laser, and a visual system based on cameras and fiducial markers. The system employs a constrained task-space adaptive motion controller that compensates for inaccurate parameters and eliminates the need to calibrate the system. Furthermore, as the motion controller explicitly accounts for geometric constraints, the robot reactively avoids collisions with obstacles while handling the ultraviolet torch. To enhance tracking of the laser-cutting path, we control the ultraviolet beam, which requires only four degrees of freedom, instead of the full end-effector pose. Experiments show that, despite an initially uncalibrated system, the overall system is capable of tracking different trajectories with an overall mean accuracy of 3.9 (sd 2.5) mm when the end-effector pose is controlled and 2.4 (sd 1.3) mm when the ultraviolet beam is controlled.

Problem

• nuclear decommissioning
• robotic laser cutting
• low-cost mockup
• path tracking
• geometric constraints

Innovation

• adaptive motion control
• constraint-aware robotics
• laser cutting simulation
• uncalibrated system
• UV beam tracking