Inflatable robotic arm

Project

Inflatable robotic arm

Benefits

The AirCube inflatable robotic arm offers significant advantages for inspecting or intervening in large-scale or hard-to-reach structures. It is powerful, robust, and electronic-free, made from high-strength textile and patented actuators, allowing it to explore complex environments with modular payloads.

Lightweight and easy to deploy and retrieve, it is safe for operators and equipment, even in contact situations. Its plug-and-play segments can be adapted for specific tasks, and it is more cost-effective than similar robotic solutions. Adaptable, resilient, versatile, strong, modular, inexpensive, and safe, it meets a wide range of inspection and decontamination needs.

Current Status

Central Robotics and AI and value streams will collaborate on a single active technology deployment through a typical cell penetration and to share learning.

Delivery Partners

AirCube, Spingeo, Xavier Poteau IE

Contact Details

Mel Willis and Yolande Smith

innovation.team@sellafieldsites.com

Remote deployment of tools is required for characterisation and decontamination during POCO to inspect large or hard-to-reach structures and allow modular payload deployment through 150mm inspection ports. The AirCube inflatable robotic arm provides an innovative solution to this challenge.

The inflatable arm incorporates two failsafe mechanisms: a dead-man’s switch to prevent unintentional movements and an automatic failsafe mode that alerts the operator and allows safe retrieval if pressure is lost. The safety sleeve ensures that the arm can be retrieved even if punctured, providing additional protection.

Developments have enabled the arm segments to be reduced in size and increase flexibility, and progress has been made on integrating flexion sensors, electronic boards, and an encoder for the joystick. The safety sleeve was tested for puncture strength, and an inflatable gripper prototype and torsion segment were assessed with a 400g weight.

By December 2023, the arm’s segments were fully wired with air supply and sensors, and the gripper could hold items up to 5kg. Initial tests showed all functionalities were operational, and the gripper lifted a 1kg load. The controller was tested, and the system could inflate/deflate segments and deflate the entire arm at once.

A successful proof-of-concept demonstration was held in February 2024 at the Engineering Centre of Excellence in Cleator Moor. The 7-segment arm, powered by a 7-bar compressor, reached 4 metres through a virtual 1 metre wall, handling a 1kg payload. The safety sleeve, made from Romar material, performed well despite lower pressure and some latency. The arm showed potential for future use with a haptic device and underwater, receiving positive feedback.

The inflatable arm will be taken forward as an active technology deployment with Remediation, SNM, Retrievals, and Central Robotics and AI collaborating on deployment through a typical cell penetration.