Novel Serpentine Robot Combinations for Inspection in Hard-to-Reach Areas of Damaged or Decommissioned Structures-17335

US government agencies, particularly the Dept. of Energy, need robotic tools to handle and inspect high-consequence materials-materials for which mishandling would result in great risk to both application operators and the general public. The remediation and documentation of nuclear waste has become a problem of national significance and it cannot be addressed without robotic tools. The use of robots bypasses the danger and decreases the preparation time to handle harmful materials. In the 1980’s and 90’s, the US Dept. of Energy (DOE) invested heavily in robotic technologies as part of a comprehensive program of research and development aimed at enabling safer and more efficient cleanup of nuclear waste sites. For the next generation of harder, more complex clean-up problems, there is a clear need for more R&D.There is a clear need for flexible, quickly deployable robotic technologies that can be configured to respond to unforeseen situations--or can be purpose-built for planned activities--while keeping human workers safe, yet effective. Modularity and interoperability are core capabilities for inspection tasks in contaminated facilities with a large variety of inspection problems. With any tool, familiarity breeds ingenuity, and ingenuity leads to new innovations in efficiency, effectiveness, safety, and performance. For example, the simple screwdriver can be held fourteen different ways by an experienced machinist who knows exactly what he or she wants to accomplish at any given moment. As a tool, robots are no different. To maximize the efficiency, effectiveness, safety and performance, redeployment and reuse of familiar tools is …